


Awful Energy

by daydreamichael



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Magic, Ashton can't use magick, Bottom Michael, Calum can use magick, Demon Michael, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Luke is corrupted, M/M, Student Luke, Student Michael, Top Luke, it focuses on their friendship before their romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-03
Updated: 2016-06-02
Packaged: 2018-04-18 21:45:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 30,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4721588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daydreamichael/pseuds/daydreamichael
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In this universe, humans who reside on Earth rely on magick and earthly energy emissions. On Earth lies the country of Azin, and within this country is a state called Aldhaven. It is a large state of order and clean magick; it's known to be the least tainted state within the entire country of Azin, for there is not a single soul who has been corrupted by demon magick.</p><p>But what happens when Michael befriends the new student, Luke Hemmings, and discovers the city's not as pure as it seems?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Preface

**Author's Note:**

> This one is based off of Halsey's song Control off of her album Badlands. I've got this one planned out so much better than my other fanfic, I hope y'all like it! (It doesn't get all romantic-y until later on! Bear with me here. :) )

Radio static blared throughout the empty room. The noise was very unsettling for Michael, but his mother told him to turn the radio on early for the daily broadcast. These broadcasts always annoy Michael to the point where he wishes he could break the radio. The only way he could do that would be to use his magick to do it, but he knows his mother wouldn't buy the 'I accidentally knocked it over' excuse. He never understood why there was a broadcast each day, it basically said the same thing every time.

"Hello citizens of Tirae! It looks like a lovely weekend will be ahead of us, with temperatures in the high seventy's and a moderate humidity - perfect beach weather! Especially for all of those students who are planning one last trip to the beach before school starts again!" The radio hostess, in her high and chipper voice, pointed out. Michael let out a groan; the last thing he wanted was to be reminded of school. It's not exactly the place he excels in. The only class he's good at is magick training, even though he's been stuck in the first degree class since starting high school.

When Michael was young, about ten or eleven years old, he'd discovered how to use his magick. At first, he could only move things around an inch or so. But after much time practicing, he could levitate a small object in the air. His teachers praised him for learning this ability early, but were slightly concerned when they figured out it was he who'd pulled all of the pranks of students in class. They called in his mum, Karen, for a brief conference, which of course Michael tagged along to. At that time, Michael didn't know what 'corruption' was, or why they were so worried he'd fall prey to it. When Karen reminded them of how often the boys in class pulled pranks on Michael, his teachers finally seemed to shake off the idea that Michael could be corrupted at this age.

Now he is a junior in high school, and still stuck with first degree magick. It really frustrates him, because he's able to lift heavy objects such as large couches and an entire weight lifting set with ease yet he still can't make something as small as a pencil completely intangible. His best mate, Calum, learned how to use first degree magick during his first year of high school; and this year he's advanced to second degree magick. Although Calum does feel sorry for Michael, he rubs it in his face whenever he gets the chance. It irks Michael so much, and he's felt the temptation to toss a table at his friend more than once. It nearly got the best of him one time, although he managed to stop the table before it hit Calum.

The strange thing about his endeavor is that Calum can't even lift up a couch, whereas Michael can lift up to three hundred and fifty pounds easily. His teachers call it 'advanced first degree magick'; apparently it's something not a lot of first degree students, and low ranked second degree witches and wizards, can do. They told him that he should feel very proud of himself. Although he can hardly be proud of himself when Calum constantly moves intangible objects through him.

"Just a quick reminder, but if you've been traveling out of state, or are visiting the state, then you're required to do a soul check! We want to keep Aldhaven as pure as possible, for everyone's enjoyment." Her perky voice jumped up an octave at the word 'everyone'. It made Michael cringe; how could anyone possibly hire someone with that kind of voice? He wants to break the radio so bad, and he nearly does, but he puts the radio down gently when he hears his front door opening.

"Michael honey, I'm home! Is the daily broadcast on?" He hears his mum call as she walks through the door. Michael sighs and shouts back a 'yeah', not caring about what the woman on the radio had to say anymore. He got up to leave the living room, but was stopped by his mum on the way upstairs.

"And where do you think you're going? The broadcast is still on." She asks him in a slightly accusing tone. Michael's mum knows how much he hates listening to the daily broadcast, considering it was the equivalent to watching one of the shitty news channels on the TV, yet she always forces Michael to listen to them.

"Upstairs to listen to music, practice my magick, hell I'd even read a book before listening to that broadcast." Michael groaned, hoping that his mother wouldn't force him to listen to the shitty radio for once.

"It's important you listen to it Michael," She began her rant, "because this information could be valuable to you one day. It may also help you with your magick - you know how often they give tips on there! Besides, you've been trying too hard to match your soul's wavelength to the Earth's, you just have to let it go with the flow. I was a late bloomer, my father and his mother was. What I'm saying is it's genetic. Your soul will shrink in time, you'll become a second degree wizard soon enough."

"Thanks for the rant mum," Michael began, giving a small laugh and a rebellious smirk, "but I don't care."

"Michael Gordon Clifford!" She called as Michael raced up the stairs. Letting out an exasperated sigh, she turned her head over to the picture of Michael, little twelve year old Michael, and wondered what went wrong with her son. All of her coworkers' kids love listening to the broadcast, like she did when she was a child, and apparently they're all very good and obedient children. With the way Michael is so desperately trying to get to second degree magick she can't help but worry that he might become corrupted. Of course he'd have to leave the state, but it's only takes a good six hours to get to the border. Michael could easily cross the border to meet with a demon; granted, he wouldn't be able to get back inside the state, but even she knows that this state isn't as pure as it seems. There's speculation that some corrupted still reside in the state, but with all of the peace the state has it seems like an absurd idea. She only hopes that Michael makes smart choices. "Fine then, but you're confined to your room for the rest of the day!"

Michael stood at his bedroom window, a wild look in his eyes. He ignored his mothers' words - as if she'll check up on him anyways. He rushes away from the window with a burst of excitement, and brought his phone into his hand from across the room. He needed to get out, he needs to do _something._ Pressing Calum's speed dial number, he anxiously awaits for Calum to pick up.

"Hello?" Calum's voice asked. He never checks caller ID, which causes Michael to roll his eyes.

"It's me you dipshit." Michael laughed. "Hey, I need to get out. Meet me at my house, underneath my window."

"If you're expecting me to catch or levitate you, you're gonna end up a pancake." Calum joked. "Are you grounded again?"

"Yes..." Michael started, imagining his wild idea in his mind, "but not for long."

"Uhh, alright then. Be there in five." Calum replied, hanging up the phone.

Michael anxiously waited for Calum to arrive. This idea he has, this crazy, stupid, possibly insane idea floated around in his mind. He didn’t know if it was actually possible to do, as he’s never heard of anyone do it before, but he considered to try it out anyways. All Michael really needs is for Calum to be there to take him to the hospital if it doesn’t work.

He swung his legs out to window to sit on the windowsill. Typically, Michael would climb down to vine structure along the side of his house to sneak out. It’s a cliche move, but with a little magick to keep the structure in place it’s one of the most efficient ways he can get out without his mother noticing. But this time he wants to try something different.

The wait for Calum seemed agonizingly long. All Michael wants to do is test out his theory, but he can’t do that without Calum. He watched the minutes on his phone pass by, sighing when he realized it’s been more than five minutes. Trust Calum to not be here when he said he would.

Suddenly, a rock hit Michael smack in the face, causing him to nearly fall backwards onto the floor of his bedroom. He looked below to find Calum with a shit eating grin on his face, lightly tossing a rock up and down in his hand.

“Thanks for the warning.” Michael called down. He wasn’t too worried about his mum hearing him considering she’s probably got the daily broadcast on full blast.

“I thought you’d be down here by now.” Calum sighed, his voice raised but not as loud as Michael’s.

“I have an idea…” Michael began, “that I need you here for. In case I need to go to the hospital.”

“Oh god Michael what are you planning to do?” Calum exasperatedly yelled up. The amount of times he’s had to fix Michael’s messes or cover for them were innumerable.

“Just hear me out.” Michael laughed at Calum’s reaction. “So since I can lift heavy objects and stuff, I thought that maybe, just maybe, I could lift myself off the ground. Kinda like levitating myself.”

“Don’t you ever pay attention in class Michael?” Calum groaned. “That’s only something a third degree can do. Self levitation. You’re still a first degree and you’re just gonna fall.”

“Fuck that Calum.” Michael laughed once more. Whenever Calum pointed out things like that, Michael listened. However, something inside him seemed to overpower his rational thinking, it beckoned him to try it. To push his limits. “I’m an _advanced_ first degree, I can do things you can’t. Plus, I’ve got a good feeling about this.”

Calum continued to try to talk Michael out of his crazy idea, but his voice was deafened by Michael’s own thoughts. The feeling he has, it’s consuming him, urging him to try it; that his magick is strong enough to do this, that it’s more powerful than he thinks it is. 

And it scares the rational side of Michael. It’s like he’s having a battle in his own mind and body, but he doesn’t know what he’s fighting against. He’s always had this little side in him that told him to do crazy stunts, just like everyone else. Calum’s had his fair share of stupid ideas, so did everyone else in his magick school. 

But something feels different. It’s not like those thoughts he’s had before, such as using his magick to move around the teachers’ objects or pulling a brat’s skateboard out from under them. This time he could be seriously hurt, which scares him, but it also excited him. It’s a ‘do or die’ type of situation, there’s something huge at stake, and as much as he tries to deny it it excites him.

“Michael, NO!” Calum yells at him as Michael braces himself to jump off the windowsill. “You could break something dropping from that height! Don’t be fucking stupid!”

Calum’s pleas never reached Michael; a split second after Calum had yelled at him, Michael pushed himself from the windowsill.

Michael had concentrated  all of his magick on himself. He could feel it swarming inside and around him. The feeling was foreign and strange, it almost made him want to break his magick connection. He could feel himself become lighter, a lot lighter, but he soon realized that he wasn’t light enough.

He hit the ground with a crash; his legs buckled underneath him and Michael had to roll on his shoulder to avoid breaking his wrist. He rolled a couple times before coming to a stop, his breathing erratic and his heart threatening to pound through his chest.

“Michael!” Calum cried out, rushing over to his side. “Are you okay? Did anything break? Do you need me to take you to the hospital?”

Michael sees how worried Calum is over him; the appropriate response to this would be to kindly reassure him that he’s okay, that he doesn’t need help and that he most definitely will never try that again. But that’s not what Michael does.

A burst of laughter erupts from Michael’s chest, and soon enough he’s clutching his sides and tears are rolling down his cheeks. His laughter dies down to a small giggle, but when he looks at the dumbfounded look on Calum’s face he’s back to his manic laughter.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Calum screams at him. “You could’ve killed yourself!”

“That’s an exaggeration.” Michael points out once he stop laughing. “Besides, I did it! Well, kind of, but I _did_ feel something weird when I tried it! It’s like I became lighter - not like as light as air or some shit - but I felt _lighter_!”

“Michael you just got lucky alright. You know that whenever you use magick on yourself it feels almost unbearable, especially when you’re only a first degree!” Calum sighs. Michael’s stunt has taken so much out of him that he feels absolutely defeated. All he wants to do right now is try to calm his troubled mind.

“Whatever man, I’m on an adrenaline rush!” Michael practically shouts as he jumps up into a standing position. “I’ve never felt so alive! _I wanna try that again_.”

“For fuck’s sake Michael!” Calum cries as he stands up from where he was kneeling next to Michael. “Let’s just go see an action or horror movie. I’m not in the mood to pull any more stunts after watching you nearly break your bones.”

“Alright man, sounds good with me!” Michael exclaims, a huge smile still spread across his face. Calum couldn’t believe how unfazed Michael was at this entire situation. Usually, Michael would be scared out of his wits - just as he had been this one time he used his magick to move the mat under the cheerleader’s pyramid and three of them nearly broke a bone. Calum thought that Michael would be even more terrified because it was _himself_ who’d nearly gotten hurt. But the way he’s acting… Calum can tell there’s something a bit off.

Meanwhile, Michael was internally freaking out. He had no idea where this irrational idea had come from, nonetheless what caused him to react to nearly injuring himself in such an absurd way. It felt like something inside him had snapped a little; he doesn’t feel as emotionally stable. Then again, Michael isn’t very emotionally stable to begin with. He blames it on that.

“Let me grab my wallet.” Michael says with a smile, looking calm and composed on the outside. He’s always been good at concealing his inner turmoil. Using his magick, he brings his wallet from his bedroom upstairs into his front pocket.

As they set off, they don’t notice a figure looking at them through the large front window of Michael’s house. His mum, who had just witnessed the entire scene, walked over towards the front window. Part of her wanted to yell at her son for sneaking out, but the other part of her kept her mouth sealed.

Michael should’ve broken an arm and an ankle, he should be screaming in pain on the floor and crying to go to the hospital. It baffles her how he could’ve avoided those injuries. He’s only a first degree, he can’t possibly use magick on himself yet. It’s just not possible. What’s stranger is that if he had been corrupted he wouldn’t be complaining about his lack of magick skills - he’d be bragging and showing off. 

Her thoughts are running at a mile a minute, and she can’t seem to recollect any of them. They’re floating past her brain on a train track, the lines blurred as they’re moving too fast to make out. Only one thought stand clear: _What’s going on with my son?_


	2. Unlikely Circumstances

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really happy people are liking it already! I pre-wrote this chapter yesterday, so here's an early update. :)

_‘_ Welcome Back Students of Kaline High!’ The disgustingly bright red lights on the electronic board spell out. Michael has always hated going to school. The only part he liked about it was his magick class, which is also becoming a joke to him now. 

Michael finds it very unfair that Calum gets to learn new things, meanwhile he’s stuck ‘improving’ the skills he already has. He thinks it’s complete bullshit - he can make something half intangible, that has to count for something!

“Hey, Michael!” Calum yells as he drives past Michael. “Check out my new ride!”

Calum’s family isn’t very rich, but they’re not exactly middle class either. Calum’s shiny new car, which Michael can’t put a name on, makes him very envious. But at the same time, he’s glad he doesn’t have a car. He needs the little extra exercise from walking to begin with.

Michael walks over to where Calum’s parked his car and lets out a wolf whistle in response to Calum’s comment from earlier. Calum grins at him and starts talking to Michael about how ‘awesome’ his car is. But Calums’ words go in one ear and out the other as Michael tries to make his shoelace intangible. He manages to make half of it intangible, and a grin forms on his face when he realizes that it took less concentration than last time to do so.

“ _Michael._ ” Calum raises his voice at him, causing his concentration to break. Michael looks up at Calum and narrows his eyes in annoyance.

“I nearly made most of my shoelace intangible and then you had to go and break my concentration!” Michael groans.

“Well, I was talking to you in the first place.” Calum pouts. “Is my car not that interesting?”

“Not in the slightest.” Michael admits jokingly. He is interested in Calum’s car, he just doesn’t care much to hear about whatever abilities it has.

The school warning bell rang in the distance, just barely loud enough to hear amongst the people chattering in their cars. Michael groaned in response to the noise. He doesn’t care about going to the normal classes, at least those will be different; he just doesn’t want to go back to the same magick class he was in last year.

“Someone’s excited.” Calum jokes. He notices how upset Michael seems, and as much as he loves rubbing his newfound second degree magick in Michael’s face he can’t stand how upset Michael looks in this moment.

“Yeah yeah, let’s just fucking get it over with.” Michael complained. As he went to take his first step, he found his shoelace was stuck to something, and ended up falling face first onto the blacktop. 

If Michael’s life couldn’t get any worse, a group of people who just so happened to _love_ making Michael’s life hell were passing by them and happened to witness the spectacle.

“Way to go Clifford!” One of the snobby bitches, Caroline, cried out in laughter. “I guess that’s just the true power of and _advanced_ first degree.”

The rest of the group laughed at her snarky comment, and Michael was slightly confused until he turned and realized that the part of his shoelace he’d made intangible was stuck in the asphalt. Michael wanted to say something in his defense, but the group was walking away before he could even get a word in. He sighed in defeat, not even bothering to get his shoelace out of the ground.

“Hey man just ignore them.” Calum said, touching Michael’s shoelace and bringing it out of the ground. “If anything, you can pick up my new car and chuck it at them. See who laughs last.”

The thought of doing that made Michael chuckle, but inside he was still seething. The memory of his window incident still burned in the back of his mind. If he could use his own magick on himself, then why can’t he be in the second degree magick class! It just doesn’t seem fair to him. 

But that’s reality, and right now reality is cruel to him. Michael gets up and brushes himself off. His mood has worsened thanks to this happening, and he honestly just feels like ditching class. But it’s the first day, and he knows he has to go. So he walks silently next to Calum, his headphones in his ears in an attempt to drown out everyone else.

This high school is different than most. It’s classes are divided by year as well as degree of magick. Fortunately for Michael, he’s been put with Mrs. McDonough. She’s one of the two third year first degree teachers, and is also the nicest of the two. If anyone will bump Michael up into the second degree class, it’s her.

“Welcome to the new school year, I hope you all had a wonderful summer.” Mrs. McDonough cheerily said to the class once everyone was seated. “I am Mrs. McDonough. Pleasure to meet you all. But now, it’s time we go over our class schedule.”

“Considering you all are very tired during the first two hours, I’m allowing you guys to have first hour as your study hall time. Therefore, and this didn’t come from my mouth, you guys can show up an hour later.” She cheekily told the class. Everyone erupted into cheers and some people whooped. Michael only sat in his seat and smiled. If he’s to be stuck in any first degree class, he’s sure as hell glad it’s this one.

“Next hour will consist of English, then History, then Math.” She continued. “After our lunch break will be Magick Studies and Practices, and the last class will be the Science class of your choice. You will go to your respected teachers for that class.”

This year Michael signed up for Advanced Placement Environmental Science. Science is the only regular subject he can tolerate, as well as the only one he’s pretty decent at. Secretly, he’s very excited to take this class; he’ll deny it to anyone who asks him, though.

The day passes by in a blur for Michael. He spends most of class with his headphones in, only half paying attention to the little lectures and stories his teacher shares. When lunch arrives, he searches for Calum for the first few minutes until he decides to eat lunch alone in the library. He really isn’t in the mood to hear about Calum’s teacher or his second degree magick class.

Michael just decides to skip his Magick class altogether and opts to stay in the library for an extra hour to take a nap. He snaps out of his sleep when the bell on the wall above him rings, signalling that it’s the end of magick class and the beginning of the science classes. He lets out a sigh as he gathers his things and makes his way across campus.

He’s halfway to his destination when the tardy bell rings; not that he cares. He often gets to his classes late in the first place, it’s just become a bad habit. The one thing he can count on himself, the one thing any of his teachers can count on, is for Michael to be late to class.

What Michael wasn’t expecting was to be late with someone else. As he walks down the hall towards the classroom door another boy walks towards the same door from the opposite end of the hall. He’s tall, probably taller than Michael, blonde and very, very attractive. 

“After you.” The boy’s offers to Michael, a slight smile on his face. If Michael thought he couldn’t get any cuter, the boy would’ve just proved him wrong.

“Thanks.” Michael muttered, avoiding the strangers’ eyes by looking at the floor. The boy opens the door and Michael walks in first, interrupting his teachers’ introduction. 

“Ahh, Mr. Clifford so glad you could join us today.” The teacher, Mr. Remak sarcastically commented as Michael came through the door. Michael’s had him before as a biology teacher, and although he often showed up late he took a liking towards the boy. 

“And you must be Mr. Hemmings.” He continued. “Everyone we have a new student to this school. Why don’t you introduce yourself?”

Michael sat at an empty desk in the back, looking intently at the boy. He didn’t seem to have a hint of nerves to him, in fact he looked quite at ease. His aura seemed like Michael’s, carefree and collected, but there was something about him that Michael couldn’t put a finger on. It made the boy stand out, unlike Michael who tended to blend in despite his crazy hair colors.

“Uh, my name’s Luke. Luke Hemmings. I was born in the state of Aldhaven, but I moved out to Coralind when I was seven. I recently moved back for personal reasons. And yeah, that’s all I’m sharing.” Luke said cooly and quickly. Michael was slightly puzzled at Luke’s demeanor. Usually when new people are introduced, they give out their favorite color or their music taste - little obsolete facts in an attempt to see if anyone can make a connected to them. But Luke… Luke’s response  was a bit too brief. It seems like he has something to hide.

“Welcome back to Aldhaven Luke.” Mr. Remak said. “You can take a seat next to Michael.”

Luke seemed slightly puzzled where to go at first until Mr. Remak pointed him over in Michael’s direction. Part of Michael wanted to disappear; to be quite honest he doesn’t feel like being next to anyone. He’s the type of person who prefers to work, and be left, alone.

“Hey Michael.” Luke said quietly as he took the seat next to Michael. “I’m Luke.”

“Really? I didn’t know.” Michael sarcastically replied. He immediately regretted it, thinking he came off as rude when that wasn’t his intention.

Luke’s lips stretched into a slight smile and he let out a light puff of air, almost like a snort but not really. “Well aren’t you the funny one.”

Michael was certainly surprised at Luke’s personality. He hadn’t even talked to Michael for a minute yet he understands that Michael’s joking around with him. 

“Anyways, what degree are you in?” Luke asks, and any positive feelings that Michael had immediately dropped. He doesn’t want to seem uncool to Luke by saying he’s an advanced first degree magick student who is still stuck in basic first degree magick class.

“I, uh… first degree. I’m in first degree.” Michael mutters, looking away from Luke to the professor. He tries to focus on what the professor is saying, but Luke continues to talk to him.

“But what level of first degree? Advanced? Basic? Beginner?” Luke pushes, and suddenly Michael has a feeling that Luke’s already heard of Michael.

At school he’s known as Michael Clifford: the advanced first degree that can’t even make it into second degree. It may not seem like a bad thing, but Michael’s been stuck at advanced first degree for the past one and a half years without any improvement. Advanced first degree is like the awkward middle stage between first degree and second degree magick, and it isn’t a very common title to achieve either. Barely any basic second degree magick users have the capabilities of an advanced first degree magick user. (The reasons for this are unknown, and are still being studied by degree magick professors all throughout the state.) Usually anyone who enters that stage doesn’t end up stuck in it, they all transition into second degree magick. But it never took anyone very long to make the transition. Except Michael. And for that, he’s become the joke of the ‘popular’ second degree kids.

When Michael first was declared as an advanced first degree in year one, he was considered one of the ‘coolest’ people. He made sure to rub it in the faces of the ‘popular’ kids. But when those same kids transitioned straight from first degree to second degree, without the advanced stage, they seemingly made it their goal to make Michael’s life hell. 

“What level are you?” Michael counters, clearly avoiding the question.

“Me? I’m basic second degree.” Luke answers. “Although I did go through my advanced first degree stage.”

Michael let out a small ‘hmmm’ in response, once again trying to focus on the professor. Apparently he was putting on an introductory video to the class and Michael hoped it would distract him from Luke’s questions.

“So, you gonna answer my question orrrrr?” Luke asked him, nudging Michael’s arm with his elbow.

“Advanced.” Michael grumbled. “I’m sure you’ve heard of me by now. If you’re just gonna make fun of me, I swear I’ll take one of the cars in the parking lot and ram it into you.”

“Woah, woah, relax.” Luke let out a slight laugh. “Why would I make fun of you?”

“Because…” Michael hesitated. Surely Luke would make fun of him too if he knew how long Michael had been stuck with advanced first degree magick. Then again, Luke could be different from the others; he knew none of the ‘popular’ crowd, therefore he probably wont make fun on him. He took a deep breath in before continuing, “I’ve been stuck with advanced first degree magick for a year and a half. That’s why.”

Luke let out a slight laugh, and for a moment Michael wanted to punch his lights out until Luke spoke again, “That’s stupid. Who the hell makes fun of someone for that? Most basic second years don’t even get to acquire the skills advanced first degrees have. You’re probably just a late transitioner. No big deal.”

It was one of the most hopeful things Michael had ever heard in his life. Nobody - not his mom, not his teachers or doctor, hell not even Calum - had said anything like that to him before. They just smiled sadly, as if he was a lost cause. But Luke, a complete stranger, didn’t think so. For some reason, that meant so much to Michael.

“Thank you.” Michael said, smiling slightly. “Nobody’s ever put it like that before.”

“Seriously?” Luke asked incredulously. “Surely someone would’ve told you that. It can take someone as little as a month or as long as two years to transition. You just happen to be one of the late bloomers. I’ll admit, late bloomers don’t happen very often, but it’s no big deal. You’ll transition eventually.”

“Mr. Hemmings, while I’m very glad that you’re already making new friends please refrain from talking during the film.” Mr. Remak’s somewhat loud voice called from the front.

“Sorry about that.” Luke replied just as loudly and slightly sarcastically, causing a few of Michael’s fellow classmates to snicker. Mr. Remak was surprised Luke’s remark, but an amused expression crossed his face moments later. Even Michael was smiling at Luke’s comment.

For the rest of the introductory film, Michael and Luke sat silently. Neither of them spoke a word to each other, yet they often had conversations with their eyes. Luke would look at Michael and roll his eyes, and Michael would cross his in return. 

This pattern continued until the end of school was signaled, and they both began to exit the building. Michael turned left out the door, and Luke looked like he was about to turn right until he decided to go left and head for Michael.

“Hey, Michael, wait up!” Luke called, lightly jogging over to him. Michael looked shocked to see that Luke was actually heading his way to talk to him, in front of all these people. Even though Luke seemed nice in class, Michael had assumed that he was just being friendly and wouldn’t bother to make conversation outside of class.

“Uhm, are you sure you wanna be doing this?” Michael mumbled. He noticed the people around him staring quizzically at Luke, as if questioning his moves. “I’m not exactly the person you’d wanna talk to outside of class.”

“Nonsense, you’re cool.” Luke stated loudly. Michael realized that Luke was trying to make a statement: I’m befriending Michael Clifford whether you like it or not.

“Anyways,” Luke continues, “I didn’t ever get your number.”

“You want my number?” Michael asked, genuine shock on his face. He honestly thought that Luke was going to say something along the lines of ‘we should hang out sometime’ or whatnot. He didn’t expect Luke to want to text him.

“Don’t be stupid. How am I supposed to befriend someone if I only talk to them for an hour a day?” Luke laughed lightly, a bemused grin on his face. “Here.”

Luke gave Michael his phone, and in return Michael gave Luke his. They both added their numbers in, not bothering with a photo to match the contact. When they swapped phones back, Michael noticed that Luke had added a couple of cute emojis to his name. It made Michael feel slightly awkward, considering he only put his full name in without any emojis.

“I’ll text you later, yeah?” Luke half stated, half asked. He lightly patted Michael’s shoulder in a kind of leaving gesture. “My ride’s here and he’s probably gonna kill me for making him wait so long.”

“Oh, yeah. Text you later.” Michael replied, shooting him a slight smile. He watched as Luke gave him a quick smile in return before racing down the opposite end of the hallway.

He was very thankful to find Calum at their usual meeting place by the gates near the parking lot. Calum looked slightly agitated, but his unhappy expression softened when he noticed Michael making his way towards him.

“What took you so long mate? You’re usually waiting on me - and I’ve been waiting for a good ten minutes!” Calum asked, his natural charm showing. He doesn’t know how Calum does it, that natural charm that’s warm and inviting and draws everyone in. In a way he almost envies Calum.

“I was talking to someone.” Michael replied, his voice brighter than normal. 

He was only ever late to meet Calum if he needed to speak with a teacher after class or was being harassed by the ‘popular’ clique. Calum knew this, and never bought Michael’s ‘I’m okay’ excuses. Nor did he buy Michael’s cheerful voice either.

“Bullshit. Point them out. Who was giving you a hard time.” Calum flatly responded, crossing his arms.

“No, honestly, I think I made a new friend!” Michael explained. “His name is Luke. He just transferred into our year, doesn’t know anyone here. We talked during class and he seems like a cool guy. He asked for my number and we chatted after class - that’s why I was late.”

Calum wasn’t completely convinced that Luke was as nice a person as Michael was letting on. “This Luke guy… you sure about him? He could be using you; befriend you only to humiliate you to make it in with the ‘popular’ group.”

Immediately Michael’s demeanor changed. His once crystal clear thoughts on Luke became muddled with the possibilities that Calum had just put in his mind. Calum seemed to notice it and muttered a slight ‘shit’ before lightly grabbing Michael’s arms.

“Hey, Mikey, look I’m - don’t listen to me I’m full of bullcrap. I don’t even know the guy! He’s a friend, he sounds like a good friend. There’s nothing to worry about.” Calum softly reassured, looking deeply into Michael’s worried eyes.

Michael’s been through enough shit these past couple years to make his mentality slightly unstable. His emotions tend to run wild like his thoughts, and comments like the ones Calum just made can send him into a spiral of anxiety. Other times it can be a spiral of self loathing, or sadness, and less often anger. But his most common spells tend to be geared towards his fear of shattering; that one day a comment will cause him to finally break and he won’t be able to pick up the pieces.

“I’m okay, I’m okay.” Michael repeated, his breathing slightly irregular. The comment was meant to reassure Calum, but it sounded like Michael was trying to convince himself.

“You sure mate?” Calum asked. Michael unsteadily swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded, replying with a breathy ‘yeah’. 

They walked towards Calum’s car in complete silence. Fortunately for the two of them, most of the cars had finished clearing out so barely anyone was left in the parking lot. Michael was extremely relieved to see the lot almost empty; he doesn’t want anyone to see him in this panicked state he still had yet to come down from.

“On the plus side, at least I can now take you home every day so you don’t have to walk.” Calum told Michael as they got in his car. His attempt to lighten up the mood somewhat worked, as a spark lit in Michael’s eye at the realization that he no longer has to walk four miles to and from school.

“If there’s one thing about today that I’m thankful for, it’s that.” Michael laughed lightly. He pretended that he’s alright, that he’s not worried about Luke, but Calum’s comments really got to him. It’s never happened to Michael before, but who’s to say that it wont happen, and who’s to say that it will? All Michael could do was hope for the best, and pretend that he’s actually enjoying his life right now.


	3. No Longer Strangers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have so many excuses as to why this update is to late, but I feel like none of them justify it being this late. I'm so sorry. This update is extra long to make up for it. Hope y'all enjoy!

When Calum dropped Michael off at home he offered to keep Michael company, but the offer was rejected when Michael said he wants to be alone. Calum doesn’t want Michael to be alone, especially when he’s like this, but knows better than to argue with Michael. If he stays, he’ll most likely make the problem worse.

“Catch you later then.” Calum said as Michael climbed out of the car.

“Yeah.” Michael curtly replied as he shut the door. With that, Calum slowly drove away. Michael watched his car disappear down the street, getting small and smaller until it vanished completely.

He doesn’t want to go inside. He doesn’t want to sit in his room alone with his thoughts. If anything, it would make his situation worse. Part of him wished that he’d told Calum to stay, but he knew better than to keep him there. After all, Calum probably has a lot of new magick to work on. All Michael has is the same basic stuff he’s been doing for the past year and a half.

Michael fished his house key out of his backpack, unlocked the door and opened it before he even got near it. He took off his bag and moved it upstairs into his room while he stayed downstairs and went into the kitchen for a snack. 

In the middle of making one of the best sandwiches he’s ever created, he somehow manages to splatter mayonnaise on every surface around him - including himself. He lets out a groan of frustration and proceeds to clean everything up with a rag hanging from a towel rack on a cupboard. Michael doesn’t bother changing out of his newly stained shirt considering it’s just him in the house.

With his sandwich on a paper plate Michael plopped down on the couch, shamelessly putting on one of those crappy reality tv shows. It was his guilty pleasure, to see all the drama unfold in an overly dramatic, obviously staged way. It made him feel like he’s nota complete failure in life, at least he doesn’t have to stoop as low as that.

But Michael can’t help but continue to reflect on the ‘incident’ from last weekend. Nothing’s calculated correctly in his head; he should never have been able to perform that feat. For some irrational reason he was capable though, and nothing, not even being stuck with advanced first degree magick, has frustrated him as much as this. 

There’s this little voice in the back of Michael’s head screaming at him. It’s the same one that urged him to jump from the windowsill, the one who gave him the idea in the first place. This voice hadn’t appeared to Michael before that day, and as terrified of it as Michael is a part of him welcomes it.

_Do it again._ The voice nagged Michael. Over and over it repeated it, the words sounding like a faint whisper in Michael’s ears. It echoes through his mind and he wants to cover his ears and shout for it to stop - but he couldn’t. It wouldn’t work to begin with, he’s tried it before.

Yet there is a second part of him, besides the voice, that truly believes he can do it again. It even believes that he can do it better. The thought both excites and scares him at the same time, and he finds his feet moving on their own up the stairs and into his room. 

His hands ghost over the windowsill, as if it’s so fragile it would break under the slightest pressure. They move over towards the latches that hold the window closed, and slowly fiddle with them. He’s hesitant to open it, knows that if he does there’s no going back. Once he’s caved into this side of himself, he forfeits his sanity to impulse. As he’s about to unhinge the knobs the loud, obnoxious sounds of his rather annoying ringtone snap him back into focus.

Absentmindedly, he brings him phone from out of his bag and into his hands, pressing the green button without looking at the caller ID. Usually, Michael would never do this, but he’s still quite disoriented, his mind still hazy from something he can’t quite describe.

“Hello?” Michael asked, noticing how frail his voice sounds. He cleared his throat in an attempt to make his voice sound stronger. “Who’s this?”

“It’s Luke.” Chimed a voice from the other end. Almost instantly, Michael’s focus returned to him and he found himself eager to talk to him. He doesn’t know why he’s so eager but he frankly doesn’t care about that at the moment. All he cares about is talking to Luke.

“Anyways, are you busy with anything right now?” Luke inquires, and Michael’s heartbeat increases slightly. Nobody besides Calum has ever shown any interest in hanging out with Michael, and because Luke is he’s feeling pretty damn special.

“No, not at all actually. I’m pretty bored. There’s nothing to do.” Michael rambles, his nerves only slightly evident in his voice. He’s surprised how collected he is right now, considering how he feels like he can slip up and say something stupid at any given moment. The last thing he wants to do is scare Luke away.

“What, you don’t have any classwork to do?” Luke teases him. Michael lets out a small laugh, his lips curving up into a small smile.

“None that I care about” Michael joked back. Luke’s laugh rang through the line, and in that moment Michael has never felt more proud of his witty banter. His laugh is the signal that Michael’s doing something right, that he’s not scaring Luke away.

“Well then, I heard of this really cool pizza place downtown. Wanna join me for lunch? Or would it be dinner since we had lunch at school?” It seemed as though Luke spoke the last question to himself, yet it amused Michael. “Either way, it sounds great. Join me.”

Michael already knows exactly what pizza place Luke is talking about. It’s the one on the corner of Welldragon Avenue called “Pick Your Pizza”; you can practically create your own pizza there with whatever toppings you could think of - they even had customizable candy pizzas! (Which, of course, Michael had tried many times before. The Oreo cookie pizza with extra gummy bears remains his favorite one.) 

But there is a huge downside about that pizza place - literally everyone from school goes there. Even worse, it’s typically filled with the popular people from school - the ones whose goal is to utterly crush Michael’s self esteem to the ground. Which is why he refrains from going there on weekends, after school on half days, and on days when he gets this _feeling_ that they will be in there. Today he has one of those _feelings_.

“Sorry mate, I can’t. No car. I mean I really wish I could go, their pizzas are absolutely insane, but yeah. Sorry.” Michael responds. Typically whenever he has to do this, cancel plans without a good reason, his apology always sounds so reluctant, like he blatantly isn’t sorry. But this time, he does sound genuinely sorry. He even feels it too.

“No problem, I’ll just pick you up!” Luke laughs. Michael hesitates to reply back. He’s not even sure what to say at this point, considering he’s never gotten that answer before.

“Uhhhh…” He stalls, trying to kick start his brain. If he’s to have even the slightest chance of getting out of this, he needs to think of something really clever, really fast. Or else he’s screwed.

“Honestly, it’s no big deal. I mean, you’re a little out of the way, but not by much! You’re only like a few blocks down from my house actually.” Luke rambled. Michael didn’t even realize how close he lived to Luke, but as excited as he is he’s not entirely thrilled about it right now.

“Uh, yeah. I guess.” He found himself agreeing with Luke. His face twisted in an exasperated look as he threw his head back in utter disappointment with himself. “I mean, if it’s not too much trouble…”

“No way mate! I’ll be there in ten.” Luke chirped, hanging up the phone in an instant. 

Michael would be lying if he said he’s not thrilled about this. It’s been so long since someone showed genuine interest in befriending him. For ages it had just been Michael and Calum, and when Calum couldn’t be there it had been just Michael and himself. He used to find peace in his solitude, but with his recent mental state he’s slightly terrified of being alone now. 

Yet he’s also be lying if he said he’s completely fine with going to Pick Your Pizza. Because he’s not. He’s completely petrified of going there right now; his gut is churning with anxiety, his left leg is slightly twitchy. Michael feels like he has a screw loose in his mind.

And that voice.

It won’t stop _haunting_ him. It’s in the back of his head, whispering into his eardrums. Nagging the parts of his brain he normally didn’t connect with, the parts he usually shuts out. The words boil under him skin and crawl around his stomach. 

_Do it again_.

“Shut up!” Michael cries out. His breathing slight erratic and his eyes large and wild. He wants to cry, but he has roughly eight minutes before Luke arrives and he still has a food stain on his shirt.

He shakes his head, trying to clear the thoughts from his mind. He can’t.

But he continues to get ready as though nothing’s bothering him. First he changes his gross shirt into one that’s slightly more decent. Granted it kind of smells weird, Michael hasn’t done laundry in days, but he knows he can fix that up with a bit of cologne.

Throwing on his somewhat decent black Metallica shirt, he makes his way to the bathroom to fix his face. Upon looking at himself in the mirror, Michael feels like eternally cringing. His face overall screams tired; there are light bags under his eyes, and that youthful glow that used to come naturally to him has wilted into that of a person who works the night shift at McDonald’s. Not to mention his hair has that greasy shine to it. He looks fatigued and in need of a good shower.

Michael doesn’t have enough time to shower, Luke will be here in four minutes. So he opts for wetting his fingers and running them through his hair. If only he had bought that dry shampoo a few days ago when he ran errands for his mom. After that pitiful attempt at fixing his hair, he scavenged his bathroom drawers for his deodorant and cologne.

_Why am I even bothering to fish out my cologne for this?_ Michael thinks to himself as he rummages through a messy cabinet. _I only do this for formal events. What am I even doing?_

Luke’s supposed to arrive in two minutes or so, Michael’s lost track of time at the moment. He wants to not care about being late, but the idea of making Luke wait while he dolls himself up for getting some greasy pizza makes him want to hide in shame. He’s not supposed to care, at least not this much.

“FINALLY!” Michael exasperatedly exclaims. He spritzes a bit of cologne on his shirt, careful not to overdo it. No matter how good his cologne smells, the last thing he wants is to drown Luke in the stench.

His doorbell rings about thirty seconds after Michael finishes getting ready. He rushes down the stairs, nearly tripping over a missed step, and flings the door open.

“Hey.” Michael says, his voice slightly breathy. 

“Hey.” Luke giggles back, taking in Michael’s ragged yet polished state. “You ready?”

“Yeah, let me just-” Michael points his finger in a ‘one second’ gesture at Luke before outstretching his hand towards the stairs. Almost immediately, his phone, wallet, and house keys float into his hand in a neat pile. “Need these.”

“Wow, that was fast.” Luke exclaims. He looks at Michael’s puzzled expression and begins to explain. “Most people I know can’t do that _that_ quickly. Hell, not even I can move things that fast.”

“Lots of practice.” Michael says as he walks out the door. As he continues to walk towards Luke’s car, he uses his magick to shut the front door behind him and lock it with his keys. “I’m lazy. And I always forget my stuff upstairs.”

As they both climb into Luke’s car, Luke continues the conversation about magick. “I take it you’re against the ‘Anti-Magick’ revolution?”

“The what now?” Michael asks, sounding slightly sassy. This causes both him and Luke to let out a couple fits of laughter.

“It’s a ‘revolution’ started by the older generation.” Luke explains once they both calm down. “They’re complaining how magick has made us, the new generation, lazy. That we’ve become too dependent on our magick to do basic things, how we’re going to ruin our lives by using magick to perform everything.”

“Sounds like utter bullshit to me.” Michael scoffed. “But I think I’ve heard it on the daily broadcast sometimes.”

“Wait, you actually listen to the daily broadcast?” Luke asks, his voice flat and slightly judgmental. Michael isn’t offended though, for he expects this reaction out of everyone. Even he mocks the broadcast.

“Actually, my mom.” Michael admits. He turns to look out the window and watches the neatly trimmed houses pass by in a slight blur. “She forces me to listen. Says their ‘magick tips’ will help me and such. I’m pretty sure she just wants me to be brainwashed into accepting all the bullshit that airs on it.”

“Yikes. Sorry about that.” Luke apologizes. “I sounded really judgmental on it, I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“None taken.” Michael replies. He turns to Luke and shoots him a smile to show him that he’s unbothered by Luke’s comments. 

Michael swears he sees Luke look a tiny bit relieved, but it immediately goes back to being that relaxed state he has when he’s driving. They drive in silence for a few minutes, neither one knowing what to talk about. To ease the awkwardness, Luke grabs the aux chord and plugs it into his phone.

Michael hopes and prays that Luke actually has a decent music taste. Most of the people around here listen to whatever is mainstream at the moment - which isn’t bad, some of the songs on the radio are okay. In fact, Michael often finds himself booty popping to Anaconda whenever Calum comes over. But it’s nice to listen to a diverse taste of music; his favorite genre is pop punk.

So when Luke immediately plays Girls Don’t Like Boys by Good Charlotte Michael exclaims, “DUDE! I love you so much!”

Luke laughs at Michael’s sudden outburst and asks, “Don’t know many Good Charlotte lovers?”

“I barely know anyone who listens to them!” He replies with the same enthusiasm. “Literally everyone only cares about the main pop artists! Finding someone like you is like a needle in a haystack!”

A sappy thought crossed Luke’s mind, _The only reason you found me was because you’re like a magnet._ But he shook it off immediately, baffled by where it came from. It sounded more romantic than he intended, but he couldn’t help the fond look that crossed his face when he noticed Michael singing along at the top of his lungs.

_Note to self: compliment Michael on his singing later._

For the next ten minutes, they both belt out lyrics to various songs sung by pop punk artists. The air in the car is finally void of tension, both boys seem completely comfortable with one another now. However, Luke wants to ask Michael about his magick, yet feels like it’s a touchy subject for Michael. But he’s so curious as to why Michael’s aura is so… cold.

“So… uh…” Luke starts. “Can I ask you a question? About magick?”

Luke notices Michael tense slightly at the word ‘magick’, yet he replies, “Sure. Ask away.”

“You know how every magick user has an aura, right? Like a magickal aura?” Luke asks. Michael cocks his head to the side and gives it a slight shake from side to side.

“Seriously, do they teach you nothing here?” Luke mutters to himself, causing Michael to let out a scoff of laughter. Luke smiles at him and continues, “It’s the feeling of someone’s magick. You can faintly sense it when people use it on other objects, but you can feel it the most when they use it on you.”

“That’s neat.” Michael chimes. Luke looks at him incredulously, as if he can’t believe what’s coming out of Michael mouth.

“You’re telling me you’ve never felt someone else’s magick before?” Luke asks, his eyes bewildered but transfixed on the road in front of him. 

“Not necessarily.” Michael explains. “Like, I’ve had magick used on me before and it’s felt.. strange. But I don’t know what an aura feels like.”

“It’s something you have to be taught.” Luke explains, pulling into the Pick Your Pizza parking lot. Time seemed to fly by so fast, Michael didn’t even realize that they had arrived at their destination until Luke put the car in park.

“But I can teach you, if you want.” He offered as they both stepped out of the car. Luke’s kind gesture soothed Michael’s nerves a bit. But only a bit.

As soon as they had walked into the pizza shop, Michael immediately noticed the popular clique. They sat directly in the middle of the seating area in a large rectangle of popular brand labels and designer clothes. Thankfully, they didn’t seem to notice the two giant boys dressed in all black walk in. 

Michael and Luke were seated at a table for two in the far right corner of the room, as far away from the popular clique as they could get. Luke questioned Michael’s request at first, but upon seeing the table of rich bitches he understood immediately. The last thing Luke wants is for Michael to be uncomfortable.

They both ask for water to drink before telling the waiter to come back in ten minutes for their order. In the midst of explaining to Luke how heavenly the Oreo pizza is and how he _has_ to try it sometime, Michael overhears the popular clique talking extremely loud. About Luke.

“Shhh.” Michael shushes Luke. He nods over towards the popular clique’s table. “They’re talking about you.”

They both stop talking to concentrate on what the table is saying about Luke. Luke tries to listen in for a few moments, but he can’t seem to hear their words. However, Michael seems completely engrossed by what they’re saying.

“Michael, I can’t-” He starts, but is shushed once again by Michael. Suddenly, Michael grabs Luke’s hand from across the table. It makes Luke tense at first, but he understands what Michael is doing as soon as he begins to hear distant voices. Sensory amplification magick. It makes Luke worry about Michael, but right now he’s too transfixed on their words to care.

“… he’s so cute! We should definitely think about adding him to our group.” A girl’s voice rang in their ears. It made Luke blush a little bit; he’s never seen himself as cute before.

“Okay, yeah, I totally agree! He’s like, really high on the hotness scale. It’d be a shame if we don’t get him to join us!” Another girl squealed. All this attention on Luke’s face only made him blush more.

“But…” One boy chimed in. “We’d need to fix him up a bit. He’d need to change his wardrobe a bit. We have an image to keep y’know? We can’t just keep letting ‘hot’ guys into our group, they have to have that quality we have.”

The entire table murmured in agreement. They continued chatting about Luke’s looks, which furthermore embarrassed Luke. Michael shot Luke an amused smile, to which Luke rolled his eyes at.

“There’s one more thing about this Luke guy.” Another guy spoke up. “I saw him hanging around with Clifford. The fuckin’ ‘advanced-first-degree-asshole’ piece of shit. That’s got to stop.”

“Ew, why is he hanging with _him_.” A girl sneered. Michael recognized the obnoxious, high-pitched voice. Caroline. He doesn’t know why, but that _bitch_ is always out to destroy him. And he’s never even properly met the girl! “We need to fix that, fast. Next time we see him, I say we snatch him up. Show him the ropes. Be kinda like the ‘welcome’ group for the school.”

Michael immediately lets go of Luke’s hand. Luke looks over at Michael to find his face turned away and shielded by his hands. But he felt a change in Michael’s magick aura before he’d let go of his hand. It _burned_ ;like touching freshly ignited coals in the devil’s den. It made Luke seethe in fury.

“Someone needs to fucking put them in their place.” Luke mutters angrily. He debates on doing something about it, but Michael’s pleading face holds him back.

“Don’t… please.” Michael states. His voice cracks slightly on ‘please’, and that’s when Luke decides to ignore Michael and do something about it.

“I’m not letting them get away with trashing you.” Luke growls, his facial expression fighting to maintain a calm state. “It’s fucking pathetic.”

“Luke…” Michael whispers. “I’ll only ruin your rep even more. I’m not worth it.”

Luke finally snaps at Michael’s last comment. It was one thing for those assholes to trash Michael, but it’s a whole other level when those assholes cause Michael to trash himself. Michael doesn’t deserve this, and Luke is determined to fix whatever they broke in him.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.” Luke says sternly, but gently rubs Michael’s shoulder in a quick attempt to soothe him. Tears burn Michael’s eyes, and he’s not quite sure whether they’re for the shitty things the clique said about him or for Luke’s gesture.

He watches Luke walk up to their table, and amplifies his hearing to be able to hear what Luke says. Part of him is worried that Luke would fall prey to their words - they’re known to be clever like that.

“Hey.” Luke casually says, as though he wasn’t just filled with rage. “I heard you guys talking about me from a few tables down.”

Michael was mortified when Luke said that. He absolutely doesn’t want the clique’s attention focused on him, especially when he’s so close to breaking down.

“Really? Why don’t you join us!” Caroline exclaimed. 

“Because I’m already sitting with someone else.” Luke replied cooly. “And I don’t appreciate the way you’re talking about him, either.”

The entire clique looked puzzled for a moment as their eyes scavenged the pizza parlor for Michael. His eyes connected straight with Caroline’s, and he’s never felt more intimidated in his life.

“You’re sitting with _him_?” She asked incredulously. But her voice turned sickly sweet when she asked, “Why don’t you sit here instead? He’s such a loser, you can do so much better.”

Luke looked as though he was actually pondering on the thought, which scared Michael. He knew that Luke might succumb to their charm, even though they weren’t terribly convincing at the moment. 

But he never anticipated Luke’s next actions. Luke picked up the girl’s full water cup, took a sip of water, and proceeded to pour the rest all over her. Caroline’s loud squeal echoed throughout the building, and the people around her moved away to avoid getting splashed with water.

“Sorry, you looked a little thirsty for me.” Luke shrugged casually. Michael burst out in laughter, unable to contain it. Luke may have just condemned himself to being a sworn enemy of the popular clique, but the thought that it was all for Michael made his heart skip a beat. Not even Calum stood up for him. At least, not like Luke had.

“YOU FUCKING DICK!” Caroline shrieked at him. She looked over at the guys at her table and motioned towards them. “DON’T JUST SIT THERE! DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS!”

A boy Michael recognized as Mason stood up and stalked towards Luke. Although Luke had a good few inches over Mason, Mason was more toughly built. The sleeves of his shirt hugged his biceps, and he had a similar upper body build like that of a buff NFL player. Whereas Luke… Luke isn’t exactly the most built person. Sure, he has a bit of muscle, but it’s nothing compared to Mason’s. Michael’s actually worried for Luke’s safety.

“You better fucking apologize or I’ll beat the shit out of you.” Mason threatened Luke. His fist clenched and unclenched, and Michael realized that Mason looked genuinely angry. He always figured that Mason had a thing for Caroline, and his attitude right now practically confirmed Michael’s suspicions.

“I’d like her to fucking apologize to Michael, but we all can’t get what we want.” Luke smoothly replied, unbothered by Mason’s threat. Michael knew that in a fist fight Mason would win, but he felt like Luke had a few tricks up his sleeve.

Mason swung a clenched fist at Luke’s face. Everyone viewing this scene seemed to be on the edge of their seats, Michael included. But Luke, he was eerily calm; he didn’t even flinch when Mason attacked him. All he did was push his palm out towards Mason.

And Mason went flying.

His body flung through the air and crashed into an empty table. Nobody moved out of their chairs to help him. Luke stalked towards Mason, an exhilarated, yet somewhat deranged, look in his eyes that only Mason and Michael seemed to notice; everyone else was transfixed on Mason.

“Don’t you dare fucking touch Michael. Go after me all you want, but the instant you go after him, you’re answering to me. Got it?” His voice, low and sinister, echoed in everyone’s ears. He turned back to the clique’s table, and repeated harshly, “ _Got it_?”

Luke doesn’t even wait for an answer from the table. Instead he stalks back over to Michael and grabs his hand. Michael doesn’t protest as Luke drags them out of Pick Your Pizza and towards his car. Without a word, Michael got into the passengers seat.

They sat in silence for a good five minutes. Neither one of them knew what to say to each other; Michael wanted to ask Luke what the hell happened to him, and Luke wanted to explain himself. But they never spoke about it.

The first words uttered were, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Michael whispered back.

“I just…” Luke tried to explain. Michael noticed he was hiding something, there’s a pain in Luke’s eyes that Michael can just see. He can’t explain how he detects it, but it’s evident yet hidden at the same time. “I got so mad. They can’t trash you like that. I won’t let them.”

“It’s okay.” Michael said. “Actually, I wanna thank you for that.”

Luke gave him a confused look, but Michael spoke before Luke was able to speak what was on his mind.

“Nobody’s ever stuck up for me, at least not like that. Of course Calum has, but he’s done that indirectly. He always tells me to ignore it, or gives me words of encouragement or pick-me-ups. Sometimes he’ll pull little pranks on them in retaliation. But he’s never confronted them directly; never, kinda… _threatened_ them like you did. I’ll admit, it was a very shocking sight to see. Nobody, and I mean _nobody_ ever stands up to them. Hell, even some of the teacher are scared shitless of them. But you… you did what no one else would. For me. For an absolute stranger. And I… I just… I’m so _thankful_.” Michael’s voice trailed off at the end, and he wiped the tears out of his eyes with the back of his hand. “And I’m just going to stop there because I’m getting really sentimental with a stranger. Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize.” Luke said softly, smiling fondly at Michael. “I always stand up for what’s right, even if it’ll hurt me. So don’t worry, I got your back from now on.”

“We’re not strangers anymore.”

 


	4. Breaking Barriers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fluff. Fluff everywhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small filler chapter. A bit of muke fluff for y'all.

The drive home was silent, yet both were content with only each others’ company. There wasn’t much left to say; Luke had said it all with his actions, and Michael had responded with his heart. A mutual understanding formed between the two of them that seemed to strengthen with each passing house as they drove along the block.

Michael’s house isn’t too far away now, and to be completely honest he doesn’t want to go home. He’d only be greeted with an empty house, or his mother beckoning him into the living room to listen to the daily broadcast. Even worse, she’d probably make him do his classwork.

“Hey, uh, Luke?” Michael asks, slightly timid. He had every right to be slightly anxious, consider he’d just poured out one of his largest insecurities to Luke.

“Yeah?” Luke replied. His grip on the steering wheel tightened slightly, and it made Michael wonder what was going on in his mind. His face looked strained, as if it was extremely hard to focus on driving.

“Can…” Michael started, but left his mouth agape for a couple moments as he attempted to think of how to phrase his question. “Can I… stay? At your house?”

Before Luke could even respond, Michael continued to ramble, “I mean, it’s okay if not. I don’t even have to stay long. I just don’t want to go back to an empty house, y’know? But if you can’t have company or something it-”

“Michael.” Luke interrupted. He let out a breathy laugh at the boy’s bashful face. “It’s alright, you can stay over for a while. It gets lonely there anyways.”

“What about your parents?” Michael asks, “Do they like, work early and come home late? Or often on business trips??

“Neither, actually.” Luke sighs. “They’re back in Coralind with my brothers Ben and Jack. I told them I wanted to go back to Aldhaven, kinda start over. And since my aunt lives near here, they said sure.”

“I wanted to live alone, though. They were so against it for the longest time too.” Luke says in an exasperated tone. “But I wore them down. I became kinda emancipated, except they do majorly help me pay for the apartment and necessities. The other things, such as personal stuff, I have to pay for myself.”

“Sounds great.” Michael sighed wistfully. He’s always secretly wished to live alone, but he knows it won’t happen anytime soon.

“It kinda is. Except when money gets a bit tight.” Luke replies to Michael’s comment. “But my aunt usually helps me out whenever that happens. I kinda work for her, which is how I get my money.”

“Where does she work?” Michael asks. It’s a harmless question, but something about the way Luke shifts uncomfortably brings suspicion to Michael’s mind.

“I.. can’t say.” Luke explains slowly. “It’s not my place to tell. But I can tell you that I’m like her secretary I guess. I handle a bit of her paperwork, do the things she needs me to do. It’s a pretty sweet deal we’ve got.”

“Like I said, sounds great.” Michael forcefully smiles. He doesn’t like how secretive Luke was about it, especially when Michael had just poured his heart and soul to Luke minutes ago.

“Aaaaaand we’re here.” Luke said after a few moments of silence. He pulled his car into a small, village-like apartment complex. Plants flourished along the sidewalk and neatly trimmed grass lawns hugged the sides of the buildings. Slightly worn roads barely big enough for two cars twisted into longer roads or expanded into parking lots for the residents. Everything was modern and almost new.

The apartment buildings themselves consisted of two stories. They were made of a yellow adobe material and stood at a fairly tall height. One window faced them on the upper level with an intricate little railing surrounding it. Facing their car was a parking garage barely big enough for two cars. Luke pressed a button on his car keys and the garage began to open.

To Michael’s surprise, the garage was fairly neat. There was a ton of stuff, but it was all organized in a unique way. Half of the garage, the part the Luke had just pulled into, was spotless and hadn’t a single object obstructing it. 

The other half was arranged into a sort of ‘man cave’. A medium sized, antique fridge sat in the corner, it’s baby blue paint chipping slightly from obvious years of use. Next to it was a coffee table; it’s legs were shorter than most, and it was made entirely of pine wood. No complex designs, no glass nor metal; it was plain, simplistic. Michael kind of liked it.

Behind it was a black couch, made of a felt-like material. It wasn’t dingy, but it appeared to have been through a copious amount of use. A butt groove was indented into the far right of three cushions that made Michael let out a small chuff of laughter. The groove was much larger than Luke’s butt… or at least that’s what he assumed… as if he’s actually stopped to check out Luke’s butt…

Scanning his eyes towards the wall in front of the table, his eyes rest upon a modern-looking TV and small, long cabinet that Michael assumed held all of his video games. He noticed two consoles, the Xbox One and Xbox 360, perched in the center of the cabinet, sitting in perfect alignment with the middle of the fairly large flat screen that hung off of the wall. Michael wondered how Luke was able to set up a wall TV in a garage of all places, but it seems like Luke has multiple resources for little perks such as that. 

“Neat place you got here.” Michael noted, giving him a low whistle. “Vintage mixed with modern. Weird, but kinda works.”

“Thanks, I like to have a mix to my style.” Luke beams at Michael’s compliment. “Not many people appreciate the mixture, it’s refreshing to finally find someone who does.”

Michael nodded, not really knowing what to say to that. He’s never owned his own home, and the only person who has ever stepped foot in his room beside his mom is Calum, so he doesn’t exactly feel the need to make anything aesthetically pleasing to anyone except himself.

They stepped through a door, Michael nearly tripped over the slight step up he failed to notice, and into Luke’s actual apartment. From the size of the complex outside he imagined Luke’s place would be much larger than it actually is. 

The ceiling is low that there’s only three to four feet of space between the top of his head and it. Granted he is extremely tall, six foot three or so, and normally people aren’t that tall. Still, he finds it baffling at how small the whole place seems.

The dining area and the living room are connected to each other, and the only thing separating the kitchen from the two rooms is a bar with two wooden stools. Michael takes a notice to all of the wooden furniture in Luke’s house - three tables and just about every chair he’s seen. There’s only four chairs, but that’s still a lot, especially when metal chairs seem to be a more popular option nowadays.

“D’you like wooden furniture or something?” Michael asks as they skirt around the counter and into a narrow hallway. There’s an open door to his right, and he sneaks a peek inside. He gets a small glimpse of the bathroom, and is surprised by what he saw. 

Although he only saw it for a few seconds, he noticed that it was a pretty spacious room. There was plenty of floor space to walk around, nothing seemed cramped. And there’s a shower that’s much larger than necessary.

_Looks perfect for shower sex…_ Michael thought to himself. The idea made him want to laugh, but he refrained from doing so. He didn’t want Luke to think he’s weird, especially if Michael had to explain to Luke exactly _why_ he’s laughing.

“And here’s my room.” Luke said, pushing the door at the end of the hallway open. Michael’s first thought was _damn, at least he’s as messy as I am_. 

Because that was the truth. There’s clothes scattered on the floor, probably a mixture of both dirty and clean ones. His laundry basket’s overflowing with clothes as well, as if he hasn’t done laundry in the past two weeks. Papers and writing utensils are scattered over a wooden desk. It’s nearly an exact replica of the organization of Michael’s room.

The only difference is the bed. Luke’s bed is messily made, the sheets haphazardly thrown on top of the mattress. Michael absolutely cannot sleep without the sheets tucked into the sides of the mattress, so his bed is always crisp and clean every morning. Or at least some point in the day.

“Wow…” Was the only thing Michael said upon seeing Luke’s room. Unfortunately, Luke took that the wrong way, obviously not being able to read Michael’s mind and all.

“Yeah, sorry it’s so messy. I can’t say it’s not usually like this, but it is. I wasn’t really expecting guests, I’ll clean up a bit.” Luke gave an embarrassed laugh and proceeded to pick up a few articles of clothing from the floor.

“No no! It’s okay it’s just… it’s as organized as my room is to be honest. Looks nearly the same.” Michael joked, giving Luke a smile to show that he’s really not bothered by it at all. It almost gives Michael a homey feeling.

“Oh thank god.” Luke sighs in relief. He chucks whatever clothes he picked up off the floor towards the laundry bin; some make it in, some don’t, but Luke really doesn’t care about it. “I thought you’re one of those people who can’t stand messes. I really don’t get along with those kinds of people.”

“Nah mate, it’s all good.” Michael said, waving his hand in dismissal. “So, what d’you wanna do?”

“Honestly, there’s not much to do here besides play videogames and watch tv in my garage.” Luke explained. Michael was about to answer with an enthusiastic ‘great’, until Luke continued. “But my TV keeps glitching, so that’s out of the question. I’m getting it repaired this weekend.”

“How about something like twenty one questions?” Michael asks. Admittedly, he’s afraid of asking that question just because of how stupid it sounds. So he tries to justify asking it. “I mean, we don’t know a lot about each other…”

“Yeah sure, sounds like fun.” Luke beamed at Michael, and Michael internally sighed. He’s glad that Luke doesn’t think he’s lame, hell even Michael thinks himself to be lame for asking that question; Luke seems to have a lame sense of humor though, which is strangely funny to Michael as well. He came to a conclusion that they both must be major dorks.

“Ok then, I’ll start.” Michael said, taking a seat in the middle of Luke’s unkempt bed. “Favorite color?”

“Laaammmeee.” Luke teased, flopping down to lie on his bed behind Michael. Michael shifted to face Luke, kicking off his shoes and sitting cross legged next to the boy. “But I’d have to say blue. Yours?”

“Laaammmeee.” Michael mimicked, screwing up his face to make it look funny. Luke let out a chuckle and shoved his shoulder.

“Just answer it.” He laughed, sitting up so that he’s now leaning backwards on the palms of his hands.

“Green.” Michael replied. He’s starting to think that maybe, just maybe, this game isn’t so bad after all.

Until they run out of the lame, generic question and get into the deeper ones. At the moment, it’s Luke’s turn to answer him a question. Michael’s expecting something like a stupid ‘would you rather’ question or a question about his family; unfortunately, that’s not what he gets.

“What’s your sexual orientation?” Luke asks in the most nonchalant voice Michael’s ever heard. If he had a drink in his mouth, he’d be coughing and sputtering after doing a lame spit take at the shock.

“I’m uh….” Michael begins, taking slightly too long to answer. Luke opens his mouth to speak, but Michael cuts him off. “Pan; pansexual, panromantic.”

“That’s cool.” Luke answers, giving a slight shrug. “I’m bi, so it’s no biggie.”

“That doesn’t count as one of my questions, y’know.” Michael joked. Luke faked upset at Michael by dropping his mouth in exaggerated offense and giving a dramatic gasp.

“No, that totally counts. I just gave my answer before you even asked it.” Luke said. “I can read minds with my magick.”

“Bullshit!”Michael exclaimed, giving Luke a hard shove. He doesn’t remember when they broke the touch barrier between them, but he’s strangely comfortable with these playful touches. “And I can levitate myself!”

_That’s not a total lie…_ He thought to himself, but mentally shook the thought away before it could pester him more.

“Who knows, maybe you can one day.” Luke told him. “I mean, your magick is still expanding.”

“Yeah, sure.” Michail said, voice heavy with sarcasm. “And I’m actually a fledgling demon.”

“Don’t mock me!” Luke said while laughing, his voice going up an octave at the word ‘me’. The sounds was like music to Michael’s ears; this boy’s voice was honestly so perfect. He’s so envious that his isn’t as good.

“I’ll mock you however I please.” He retorted. Without warning, Luke gave him a hard shove, resulting in Michael letting out a loud squeak as he toppled off the bed and onto the floor.

A thin pile of Luke’s clothes cushioned his fall. At first Michael was thankful for them, until he got a face full of Luke’s underwear and let out another manly shriek in disgust.

“GROSS LUKE!” Michael cried out, tossing the underwear violently across the room. Luke was laughing uncontrollably on the bed whist Michael continued to complain about his crusty underwear contaminating his face.

“Your balls probably smell disgusting if they’re anywhere near as bad as those boxers.” Michael joked, wrinkling his nose in mock disgust.

“Hey! My balls are perfectly clean, mind you!” Luke laughed back, his voice slightly raised. He chucked one of his pillows at Michael and hit him square in the face. Again, he burst into fits of laughter.

“Oh it’s so on Hemmings.” Michael challenged, his voice humorous and mouth split into a cheshire grin. He grabbed the pillow that Luke had just thrown at him and started to beat Luke with it.

“No, wait! Stop! It’s not fair!” Luke cried out breathlessly. Tears streamed down his face as he continued to laugh. All the while, Michael mercilessly beat Luke with the pillow. Their laughter chimed together, creating beautiful harmonies of happiness that echoed throughout the room. Neither of them can remember being this happy in such a long while.

“Ok ok! I give! I give!” Luke exclaimed, coming down from his laughing high. At this point Michael had straddled Luke’s stomach, his weight holding Luke back from getting up.

“Seriously?” Michael asked, slightly shocked that Luke had given up so easily. In that moment, Michael had ceased beating Luke with the pillow, giving Luke the perfect opportunity to turn the tides.

“Nope.” He said, grinning, as he buried his fingertips deep into Michael’s sides. It was a lucky guess on Luke’s part, for Michael squeaked loudly and crumpled off of Luke into a ball, trying to shield himself from Luke’s hands.

“No! Luke! Please! I can’t-!” Michael said breathlessly between laughter. He let out another loud cry as Luke pressed his fingers harder into Michael’s sides. Tears rolled down Michael’s cheeks, and Luke only stopped when Michael said he was going to piss himself if Luke didn’t stop.

“You…” Michael said, extremely out of breath, “You are…. a monster.”

“Eh, I’ve been called worse.” Luke jokingly shrugged. Michael gave him a light punch on the shoulder, still trying to catch his breath. Once he did, he decided to voice out the one thought that’s been bugging him for a while.

“How the hell did we end up here?” Michael questioned, giving Luke a puzzled smile.

“You mean, in my bed?” Luke joked. “It’s not uncommon, everyone does sooner or later.”

“No you fucking dork. I mean like _this_.” He said, pointing in between both himself and Luke. “Like earlier today we’re total fucking strangers, and now we’re being all touchy and friend-y.”

“My barriers aren’t too hard to pass through.” Luke shrugged. For a moment Michael is disheartened; he was hoping to hear something about how special he is. “Although I must say, I’ve never tickled someone to near death the first day of knowing them.”

“Exactly my point.” Michael exclaimed. “I’ve only ever been friends with Calum. You should consider yourself lucky you even befriended me at all, I’ve got walls as tough as Captain America’s shield.”

“Well then I must be Thor’s hammer because I must’ve made a pretty good dent in it.” Luke replied, making the same nerdy Avenger’s joke that Michael was secretly hoping Luke would make.

“At least you’re a bigger dork than me.” Michael sighed in mock relief. “Can’t have someone looking more cool than me.”

“I believe the correct grammar would be ‘cooler’.” Luke pointedly corrected him. Michael scowled for a moment, but a grin broke out on his face moments later.

“See what I mean? Nerdy and a dork.”

“Nah, I’m just smarter.” 

“Don’t push it Hemmings.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I bought soundcheck concert tickets to the Sounds Live Feels Live tour for September 9th! Section 101, Row D. Anyone else buy tickets for SLFL?


	5. Being Human

Michael woke up in complete bliss for once. He’d woken four minutes before his alarm was supposed to go off, and although he would’ve groaned at the fact he felt quite passive about it. Energy coursed through his veins instead of the usual sluggish, tar-like sleep residue. It was rather refreshing.

He doesn’t know how many mental notes he’s made to himself about his clothes, he estimates around twenty, but he adds another one to the ever-growing list - _do your fucking laundry you lazy shit_. It took him ages to find clothes that smell even remotely okay to wear. In all honesty, a good majority of them smell like they’ve been dragged through heaps of rubbish. 

Grabbing his backpack, untouched from where he first left it yesterday, and the rest of the things he deemed necessary at school - his charger, phone, gum, headphones - he quickly made his way down the staircase and into the kitchen.

“What the fuck?” Michael blurts out. Sitting there, in the chairs in the dining room, is Luke… and his mother.

“Language, Michael!” His mother scolds him, turning back to Luke moments later. “I apologize, I’ve never been able to get a filter on this boy.”

“It’s quite alright Karen.” Luke laughs.

_Karen? When the fuck did he get on first name bases with my mother?_ Michael thinks incredulously. HIs face must mimic the tone of his thoughts, for he gets an answer to his unspoken answer just moments later.

“I was just talking to Luke here while you were busy getting ready!” Michael’s mother chimed, her voice strangely pleasant. “It’s so nice of him to offer you a ride to school when Calum couldn’t!”

“Calum couldn’t?” Michael asks, and his mother gives him a quizzical look.

“Yeah, he texted me earlier this morning and asked me to pick you up.” Luke answered quickly. A little too quickly.

“But he doesn’t ha-” Michael began, but what cut off abruptly by Luke.

“We’re gonna be late if we just sit here and talk, c’mon Michael! Let’s go!” Luke exclaims, pretending to check the time on his phone. Michael doesn’t question Luke in the presence of his mother, but is extremely confused at this point. 

“Wait, I need my shit.” Michael tells him as they walk swiftly out the door. Within a few seconds, his backpack flies into his outstretched hand along with his smartphone. “There, good to go.”

He calls out a brief ‘Bye mum!’ and proceeds to rush out the door to Luke’s car. He climbs into the front seat and tosses his bag in the back, only bothering to keep his headphones and phone on him at the moment.

“What the fuck was that?” He casually asks Luke, flipping through his phone’s notifications. They were mostly texts from Twitter; he really should turn off his mobile text notifications for that.

“What?” Luke asks, seemingly oblivious to what Michael’s implying. But a brief glance at Michael seems to jog his memory as he continues, “Oh! That… I just thought I’d offer you a ride to school today s’all.”

“But why?” Michael pressed. “And how’d you know Calum takes me to school?”

“I didn’t, actually.” Luke sheepishly confessed. “I just showed up at your doorstep and your mum was expecting him, so I made up some excuse just so I could take you.”

“You didn’t answer why.” Michael pointed out. “Not that I’m not grateful for it, though. Just kinda curious.”

“After what happened at the pizza place… I just don’t want them to give you shit for what I did. So I thought I’d kinda be like your personal body guard.” He said, his eyes transfixed on the route ahead.

“You might be tall and lanky but you sure can pack a punch with your magick.” Michael joked. A thought crossed his mind and he couldn’t hold back from saying, “What happened to you anyways?”

“What?” Luke asks sharply. He noticeably became more tense; his fingers had a death-grip on the steering wheel and his teeth ground together.

“I mean…” Michael hesitated. It’s like he had just flipped the switch on Luke’s demeanor, specifically in the downward direction. The last thing he wants is to anger Luke. “You just seemed so… intense.”

“The guy was a dick, he deserved it.” Luke brushed it off quickly. “Besides, it’s been a long while since I’ve used magick like that. Felt nice to get it out of my system.”

“You mean you have more than one type of magick?” Michael asks. He’s never been the brightest person, but he always payed attention in magick class. At least, when the magick he was learning was new to him.

At this point nothing Michael doesn’t know does not surprise Luke. The boy couldn’t know what a soul is and he wouldn’t be shocked. So he decided to play teacher and elaborate on the subject. “Since you’re only an advanced first degree, they probably didn’t teach you about this since you’ve only got one kind of magick. But if you have second degree magick, you also have first at the same time. Essentially, you have two different types of magick coursing through you, each with their own different abilities. If you don’t use one type for a long time, you essentially get rusty at it and, chances are, you’ll have a buildup of magick in you. So when you do use it, it comes off slightly more powerful than it actually should be because you’re out of practice using it. Make sense?”

“Surprisingly, yes.” Michael laughed. “They really don’t teach us shit at this school, damn.”

“Aldhaven is also a pretty conservative state too.” Luke griped, “So many laws and shit that I wouldn’t be surprised that they don’t teach you half the stuff I learned in Coralind.”

Moments later Luke pulled his car into the massive school parking lot, attempting to find a good spot. There were a few empty spots closest to the building, so Luke decided to head for those before anyone else took them. Strangely, everyone was avoiding them; nonetheless, he pulled right up into one of them and put his car into park.

“Luke you can’t park here.” Michael flat out stated. He looked slightly panicked; Luke has no idea why anyone would freak out over a parking space.

“Says who? It’s a free parking lot.” Luke scoffed. He made no attempt to leave the car and head into school, but he also didn’t move the car.

“Says the clique. This is their section, you can’t park here.” Michael told him. “Last kid who parked here… his car was all beat up by the end of the day. They got away with it too.”

“Yeah? Well, we’ll just hang around the car until class starts so they know the car’s mine. And if they decide to be stupid enough to trash my car, I’ll flip all of their cars right in front of them.” Luke shrugged. 

Michael was hesitant at first. On one hand, he would love to see the looks on their face when they realize someone - _Luke_ of all people - took their precious parking space; on the other, he doesn’t want to be the cause of all this commotion with the clique. He knows that they’d target him in a heartbeat.

“If you’re ok with that, I guess.” Michael gulped. “Just don’t do stupid things because of me, okay?”

“I’m not doing it because of you.” Luke assured him, tossing a happy smile at Michael. “I’m doing it because I want to piss off those fucking assholes.”

Michael gave out a light laugh and took a brief moment to check the time. Fortunately, they had a good fifteen minutes before class started. But he also noticed he had, yet again, a myriad of missed texts and calls from Calum.

_You’re mum’s gone open the door dipshit_ \- Sent at 7:02AM

_Are you still fucking sleeping?_ \- Sent at 7:04AM

_What the fuck open the fucking door_ \- Sent at 7:05AM

_I’m freezing my ass off you fuckwad_ \- Sent at 7:05AM

_That’s it I’m breaking in_ \- Sent at 7:08AM

_YOU’RE NOT EVEN FUCKING HOME WHERE ARE YOU_ \- Sent at 7:13AM

_Seven missed calls from Calum Hood_

_Five voicemails from Calum Hood_

“Shit.” Michael swore under his breath. Luke emitted a small ‘hmm?’ in question. 

“I forgot to tell Calum not to pick me up.” He groaned, putting his head in his hands in frustration. “Now he’s gonna be pissed.”

“Can’t be that bad.” Luke shrugged. Only to make a slight hissing noise that resembled the word ‘ouch’ once Michael showed Luke the texts. He doesn’t even want to open the voicemails. “Never mind, I stand corrected. Sorry mate.”

“Nah, it’s my fault anyways. Was s’posed to tell him on the way here but I kinda forgot.” Michael brushed Luke’s apology off. It wasn’t Luke’s fault at all; Luke had no idea what Calum’s number was and Michael obviously knew to tell Calum. But of course, he is a bit of a scatterbrain sometimes.

“C’mon, let’s hang outside my car.” Luke piped up, grabbing his stuff and proceeding to open his door. “Don’t want those assholes trashing my car while I’m in it.”

It was ten minutes until school started; Michael knew the clique would arrive any second now. Somehow, they all end up arriving around the same time. He figures it must be this clique code or something, but that’s the last thing on his mind right now. They’re about to arrive any moment, in a massive horde of expensive cars and items and stuck-up noses, to completely shred the two of them.

“Hey, it’ll be okay.” Luke says, squeezing Michael’s shoulder sympathetically. Michael doesn’t know when Luke arrived at his side, much less opened his car door, but is too nervous to bother caring. Luke’s gesture soothes him slightly, but his hands still shake out of nervousness.

Moments later, a noticeable line of expensive-looking cars enter the lot, making a beeline towards their car. Michael and Luke are both leaning against the hood of Luke’s car, shielded from their immediate view.

“What the fuck!?” A shrill cry splits the air.Michael immediately shrinks down, as if doing so will shield him from what’s to come. “Who the fuck is in _my_ spot!?”

_It’s fucking Caroline._

Somehow that bitch always finds a way to be involved with Michael. Whether it’s shoving past him in the hall or directly confronting him - she seems to thrive off of his misery. And in a few moments, she’ll have either a feast or famine.

“That’d be us.” Luke’s snarky reply catches Michael off guard. He didn’t expect Luke to be this… sassy. “I’d say sorry, but I’m not.”

“Yeah, me either.” Michael finds himself saying, his mouth moving faster than his mind. His eyes widen in surprise, as do Luke’s and everyone else’s within earshot. It’s extremely out of Michael’s character to speak out, especially to the clique; hell, even the clique isn’t prepared with a degrading comeback for Michael.

Unfortunately, Caroline always has a few tricks up her sleeve. “Oh my god, he actually speaks? Looks like he finally grew some balls guys.”

Her hard, piercing gaze met Michael’s. It’s cold and shrouded with malice; Michael really has no idea what he did to deserve her hatred. Caroline’s next words were like a punch in the gut. “Too bad he can’t advance his magick.”

Right now, Michael’s fed up. He’s been dealing with their shitty comments and nasty pranks for far too long, bottling it up inside him. He’s never been passive about it, in fact he was extremely bitter and enraged each time; the only thing that held him back was not having the support he needed to face them. Michael has Luke, and that’s good enough for him now.

“Shut the _fuck_ up Caroline.” Michael groans, rolling his eyes at her. “Just shut the _FUCK_ up!”

What happens next is easily the most terrifying and exhilarating moment of Michael’s life. Caroline’s car, with Caroline inside of it, floats about ten feet off the ground. Her screams of terror, and a few threatening statements geared toward Michael, echo in the back of Michael’s mind but don’t quite register with him. He can only sense one thing.

The voice.

It’s prodding Michael’s mind like a mischievous child poking an animal to irritate it until it snaps. Unfortunately for Michael, he’s far past the point of return; his mind is as wild as a hurricane, all of those thoughts and memories of being hurt by Caroline flashing behind his eyes. Michael wants to make her pay, _needs_ her to feel the agony he felt whilst being tortured by her.

_Do it._ The voice hisses. At first, it’s a faint whisper. But it gets louder and more sinister with each passing second. _Do it. Do it. DO it. DO IT. DOITDOITDOITDOITDOIT._

Meanwhile, Luke watches Michael in amazement. The focus on Michael’s face is intense, so intense that Luke isn’t even sure if Michael’s here anymore. He envies Michael’s ability to stay so focused; Luke knows he’d never be able to perform a feat like this. While he is able to lift pretty heavy object, there’s no way he’d be able to lift a car of this size in the air. Hell, he’s not even sure if he’d be able to lift a car period.

But something seems off. There’s a look in Michael’s eyes, a wild look of flames and excitement. Luke knows this look, knows it much too well. Part of him wants to believe that he’s being delusional, that this is just another one of his mistakes, but there is nothing mistakable about it. He has the same look that Luke felt when he threw Mason across the pizza parlor. 

“Michael.” Luke says warily. “Michael, put Caroline’s car down.”

He gently goes to touch Michael’s shoulder. When his hand comes in contact with Michael’s shirt, Michael’s head whips towards Luke in a speed that would have strained anyone’s neck. Instead, Michael cocked his head and looked directly into Luke’s eyes.

Luke felt naked, as if his whole body and soul was being examined on a table. Michael’s eyes aren’t exactly hollow - quite the opposite, actually, they burn with intensity - but there’s a part of him _missing_. 

“Oh my god…” Luke breathes out. He realizes why Michael’s acting this way, why he’s not registering with the situation at hand. “You’re not human.”

At Luke’s words, Michael sends Caroline’s car crashing onto - no, _into_ \- the ground. He’d made nearly half the car intangible, and upon releasing his grip on the suspension of the car he’d successfully trapped Caroline’s car in the ground.

Luke only took a short glance at the car, but it was too long of a glance for Michael had finally regained whatever humanity seemed to have left him.

“Luke…” Michael whispered. At first, Luke thought Michael was perfectly fine; however, he should have known what such magick emission would do to a person who’s never expelled that much.

Michael’s eyes flitted closed; he staggered for a few moments before crashing to the ground. Luke could only stand, dumbfounded, at the boy at his feet. He doesn’t know what to do; between Caroline’s outraged screams, the voices of multiple people both cheering and panicking, and his own voices in his head - it’s all too much for him.

Within seconds, his vision goes black.

 

 


	6. Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The updates for this have been pretty slow, been working mostly on my college applications and all, but I'll definitely have plenty more time to write chapters over break and after this month! :)

When Michael came to, his head was throbbing and his vision blurry. He had a faint recollection of what happened - messing with Caroline’s car - but he can’t exactly remember _what_ he did to it. Surely he didn’t toss it, especially with her still in the car (as much as he wanted to, he didn’t want to get charged with murder). But considering that’s the only thing he _can_ do with his magick…

“Michael? Michael, can you hear me?” A voice, female, called to him. It took him a few moments to register that someone’s talking to him, but he slowly turns his head towards the voice. A woman’s blurred figure crosses his line of vision; it takes a while for his eyes to adjust to the bright lights, but they come mostly into focus after a few moments of concentration.

“Good, that’s good. How’s your vision? Does anything hurt?” The lady, whom Michael recognized as the school nurse, questioned.

“My head.” He croaked. His voice was scratchy and dry, like he’s severely dehydrated.

“Ok, we can give you a few mild painkillers for that.” The nurse told him. After a few seconds of rummaging through drawers, she handed Michael a few pills and a cup of water. Michael downed the pills and water quickly, and politely asked for a bit more water.

When the nurse came back, she remarked, “You’re doing much better than most. Usually when people overexert their magick like that they’re out for at least a day.”

“What… what did I do?” Michael questioned tentatively. The nurse’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“You and your friend messed around with a student’s car.” She told him.

“My friend?” Michael asked. He doesn’t recall a friend helping him. 

“Luke Hemmings.” The nurse stated, looking towards a separate room. “He’s in the other room, woke up about an hour ago.”

“Wait, what? What did we do?” Michael pushed. He doesn’t recall any of this, and it’s starting to scare him.

“Well, from what Luke told me, you picked the car up in the air. Then he made it intangible - the idiot - and you sunk the car halfway into the pavement with the poor girl in it.” She explained, rolling her eyes. “You boys and your pranks.”

“Luke didn’t do anything though.” Michael stated with less confidence than he thought he had. “At least, I don’t think he did.”

“Michael, you’re an advanced first degree. You have to be a highly skilled second degree to make something as dense as a car intangible.” The nurse scoffed, being rather rude to him. This is why he had such low confidence before Luke came along - nobody believed in his abilities.

“Though I am impressed. Not many people can lift cars into the air, especially ones like that truck.” The nurse laughed slightly. “Had to get a large group of the top magick students and professors to pull her car up and out.”

“Huh…” Michael breathed out. He’s still fuzzy on the whole Luke thing. All he can remember is getting furious, so furious he felt his blood boiling, a strong magickal emission coming from somewhere, and then darkness. He doesn’t remember Luke doing anything.

“Can I see Luke?” Michael asked, his voice suddenly small and weak. Between the recent events and the voice thats been nagging his mind, he’s getting really freaked out about his sanity.

“Yes, you may. Let me help you up.” The nurse sighed. Michael grabbed onto her arm and struggled to get up. It took a couple tries, but once they got him onto his feet he was a little more stable. Michael still needed to hold onto her arm for balance, he was feeling a little lightheaded, but after a short walk to the next room over he was seated onto the little cot next to Luke.

“Hey.” Luke said, almost whispered. The nurse took leave after setting Michael down, leaving the two of them alone in the room.

“Hi.” Michael replied. He wanted to question Luke about the incident, but part of him was too scared.

“About the, erm, the Caroline thing.” Luke started, his voice shaking slightly. He seemed on edge, extremely on edge. Michael doesn’t understand why.

“We make one kick ass team.” Michael joked, hoping to get rid of this tension. Something in Luke’s eyes darkened, but he laughed a little nonetheless.

“Yeah, I guess we do.” He responded. Luke lied back down on the cot, staring straight up at the ceiling.

After what seemed like a long period of silence, Luke spoke up again. “They want to question us, y’know.”

“About?” Michael whispered. He doesn’t know why, but the conversation now seems like it should be quietly, almost secretly, spoken.

“What we did. Why. How we did it.” Luke sighed, his Adam’s apple bobbling nervously. “They also want to do soul checks on us.”

“And that’s bad because?” Michael questioned.

“Because, I’m corrupted.” Luke laughed a little. Michael’s eyebrows shot up in surprise and his mouth gaped. Luke gave him an annoyed look and rolled his eyes. “Close your damn mouth, you’ll catch flies.”

“But, how the hell? Did you? Aldhaven…. the security here…” Michael trailed off. Aldhaven has the highest security in the world, not a single corrupted soul has resided in this state in over seventy years. 

“This is exactly why we left Aldhaven.” Luke muttered. “They’re so keen on keeping corrupted souls out, that they haven’t made any advancements in their knowledge.”

“Let me explain.” He continued. “You know demons exist, and they’re the ones who corrupt people, right?”

“Yes…” Michael scoffed. “We’re not that clueless, y’know.”

“Hey, for all I know you guys don’t know shit.” He defended, raising his hands. “Anyways, when most demons corrupt people, they don’t bother taking the time to keep the soul intact. Instead, they rip out part of the soul, leaving it torn and messy. That’s how corrupted people become corrupted in both the mind and soul.”

“However, not all demons use this method to obtain souls. Some are much… nicer about it. They take the time to carefully carve out your soul, and repair whatever tears they make. That way, when a soul check is done, your soul looks authentic.”  
 Luke explains, and Michael nods in understanding. “Of course, it’s a hefty cost. Doing that often takes days of constant work - no sleeping, no eating for all of the people involved.”

“And you… you had someone take that time with your soul?” Michael asks, piecing everything together slowly.

“Yep. I naturally had second degree magick, excluding advanced first degree. But the demon I went to had a large history of successful corruptions, and was able to grant me every magick degree, including advanced, up to advanced third degree.” Luke shrugged, as if it was no big deal.

“Then why are you in second degree magick class??” Michael questioned. “When they did a soul check, they should’ve seen that you’re such a higher rank!”

“Because, most people in Aldhaven are only second degree magick users.” Luke comments. “This school’s magick only goes up to second degree. I’d have to have gone to a private school for higher powered magick users.” Luke explained. “If there’s one thing I detest the most in the world, it’s stuck up private schools.”

“But how?” Michael pressed.

“I can morph my soul to any size I want. From a large soul to a minuscule soul.” Luke explains, sighing. “Had the demon who corrupted my soul add a bit of flexibility to it too.”

“Oh…” Michael said. He couldn’t think of anything more to say it that.

“But you.” Luke started, sitting up and leaning close to Michael. 

Michael’s breath hitched as Luke’s face was a few mere inches away from his own. Luke’s eyes bored into his own, as if trying to read Michael’s soul like a soul scanner. His heart hammered in his chest; Michael has no idea why Luke’s affecting him like this.

“You…” Luke breathed out. Michael can feel his breath on his lips. “Aren’t human.”

“What do you mean I’m not hu-?” Michael exclaimed, slightly too loudly. Luke covered Michael’s mouth with his hand, violently shushing him.

“Don’t talk so fucking loud!” Luke hissed into his ear. He looked towards the closed door; nobody walked in.

“God, you’re an idiot.” Luke muttered. “We’re both idiots. Anyone could be listening right now, especially if they have sensory amplification magick. Fuck, I’m so stupid.”

“Luke…” Michael whispered, his heart thumping in his chest again. Only this time, it was out of fear. “What do you mean…?”

“I’ll explain once we’re done being questioned.” Luke sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “For now, keep your mouth shut about this - all of it. Or else we’re both in a shit ton of trouble.”

*~*

They got out of questioning about two hours later. Fortunately, they both stuck to the same story, although Michael’s was a bit less clear due to his hazy memory. The two of them were forced to go through soul screenings; both screenings showed up like normal.

Except Michael’s.

His soul had shrunk substantially, to that of a second degree magick user’s to be precise. Nobody understood why, but they figured it was because he had released so much magick he finally got the push to transition. Everyone - being only Calum and his mum - was so happy for him.

Except his professors and the staff. They were very skeptical about the entire incident; especially due to Michael’s blanking memory and his sudden increase in magickal ability. It just didn’t add up to them; how could a boy like Michael increase his powers that much in a matter of moments?

Nonetheless, they let the situation go. According to the doctors it was an uncommon, but possible, phenomenon, and that was good enough for them.

Michael, on the other hand, was desperate for more answers. Specifically from Luke.

He’d refused a ride home from his mum and Calum, saying that he and Luke need to work on a science project. They both were hesitant to let him hang out with Luke, especially after their severe prank on Caroline - which did land them both two days suspension - but let him go anyways.

The instant Michael climbed into Luke’s car and shut the door, he asked the inevitable question that had lingered between them like a haunting ghost. 

“What the hell do you mean I’m not human?”

Luke’s face showed signs of amusement at Michael’s question. “I mean exactly that.”

“I fucking _know_ , Luke. Now tell me what the _hell_ I am before I fucking flip this car.” Michael growled, anger bubbling in his veins.

“Jesus, you demons sure are cranky when you get power surges.” Luke laughed.

“Wait, what? Demon?” Michael scoffed. “Luke I come from a pure line there’s no fucking way-”

“Just shut up and let me explain.” Luke interrupted. Michael, once again, shut his mouth to let Luke, the seemingly all-knowing boy, explain to him _once again_ something his school didn’t teach him.

“For ages, we all thought that demons were a bloodline. You have to be born to at least one demon parent in order to inherit the demon gene.” Luke explained. Michael already knew that part, though. “But recently, back in Coralind, there was a breakthrough in the research on demon genes.”

“Apparently, the demon gene is a mutation. It can happen to anyone, even to people whose bloodlines don’t mingle with demons’.” Luke continued, his voice getting slightly more excited. “It’s very rare that it mutates, in fact most demons come from bloodlines, but it’s possible.”

Michael doesn’t want to believe it. There’s no way, no _fucking_ way, he’s a demon. But…

“Is that why I hear a voice in my head?” Michael asks, growing slightly scared. 

Luke shoots him a sympathetic look, one that’s also somewhat understanding. To Michael’s surprise, Luke says, “I hear it too.”

“But you’re not…” Michael’s voice gave out before he could finish his sentence. This is all so much, almost too much, for him to process.

“I’m not.” Luke confirms, his eyes flickering between his mirrors. “But when you’re corrupted, a part of you goes missing. Both the soul and the mind are taken during corruption. Because my demon spent careful time on me, I have a complete soul and a _mostly_ stable mind.”

“Sometimes, I hear this voice. It tells me to go overboard, cause a bit of chaos. I get this wild look in my eyes when I hear it, or do something a bit chaotic.” Luke explains.

“That’s what happened.” A thought dawned on Michael. “With Mason, that’s why you looked a bit…. deranged.”

“I was hoping you hadn’t noticed that.” Luke chuckled. “But yeah, that’s what happened.”

They drove the rest of the way in complete silence, the two of them just taking the time to absorb all this new information. Only once Luke had pulled the car into park at his place did Michael speak up.

“What now, Luke?” Michael asked, his head turning to face Luke. His eyes were filled with fear; it made Luke’s heart shatter.

“Now, I help you.” Luke murmured, reaching across the seats to pull Michael into a comforting hug. Michael buried his nose into the crook of Luke’s neck, a feeling of comfort and bliss calming his nerves. Luke’s embrace feels like the warm home he never had.

 


	7. The Beginnings of Something

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh god, this is so incredibly late. I feel bad, I've had half this chapter rotting in pages and I just finished it today. I'm a terrible person, I know. And this is kind of a filler chapter (with plenty of muke fluff). Ugh.

“Isn’t your mum worried about your whereabouts?” Luke asked Michael. Michael, at the time, was lying across Luke’s lap watching reruns of the TV show Friends.

“Probably.” Michael first stated, then rethought the idea for a few moments. “Probably not.”

“She seems a bit… overbearing.” Luke pointed out, recalling all the instances Michael told him when his mother was more than controlling over her son.

“She can be.” Michael shrugged.

They dropped the subject for a few minutes, trying to get back into the TV show. But they both were restless, and Michael began to feel slightly uncomfortable in his position.

It dawned on him that he’s never this close with people. He hardly ever hugs his mother - it just feels too awkward to him - and he only ever gets like this when Calum practically demands a cuddle. Yet here he is, practically lying on top of Luke like it’s one of the most natural things in the world.

“I-um…” Michael started, practically jumping up off of Luke. The time read 7:13PM, and Michael hadn’t done any of his work. He truthfully does care about getting decent marks, considering he’s gotta leave his mum’s house eventually. “It’s late. I should go.”

“Oh c’mon, tomorrow’s only Friday!” Luke whined. “Don’t leave me here alone.”

Part of that last sentence struck a chord with Michael. It’s obvious Luke’s joking around, but the way his voice lingered at ‘alone’ has Michael convinced that there’s something more to it than a lighthearted joke.

“Do you not wanna live alone?” Michael asked quietly. 

Luke opened his mouth to say something but faltered. He looked like he was having an internal struggle with himself. Michael decided to push a bit further.

“It’s okay if you are. I am most of the time.”

“It’s not that, it’s just… I can’t… I’ve a hard time…” Luke’s words continuously failed him.

“The whole ‘no homo’ thing, right? Bros don’t talk about their feelings.” Michael scoffed, and Luke seemed slightly hurt at Michael’s attitude. “No no, it’s not at you. The whole ‘no homo’ thing bugs me. We’re human - it’s not like men are steel walls, we get hurt and upset.”

Luke got up and wrapped his arms around Michael’s waist, clinging to him like his life depended on it. Michael stood stunned for a few moments; he wasn’t expecting Luke to hug him, especially like this, but melded into Luke’s body in return.

They sat like that for a while, not speaking, finding comfort in the silence. Neither of them really knew what to say next; Luke didn’t want to give away his feelings, and Michael doesn’t feel it’s his place to pry. But neither questioned their strange bond, supposing that so much has happened within a short time it just feels natural. 

The sound of the Crystals ringtone blared throughout the room, startling them out of their own minds.

“Give me a sec.” Michael muttered as he detangled himself from Luke. Luke sighed and gave him a small smile in return.

“What is it mum?” Michael asked once he shut the bedroom door. 

“Michael Gordon Clifford, you were supposed to be home by now! I’ve waited patiently for two whole hours and - my you’ve missed the daily broadcast too! You know how much it means to me for you to hear it.” She rambled on.

“Mum I’m sorry, I just got caught up at a friends’ house that’s all.” Michael sighed; this happens every time he stays out after 7:30 whether he tells her where he’s gone or not. “I’ll be home soon.”

“Be home _now_.” 

Michael took a deep breath, trying to keep his cool. He hated when she got controlling; she constantly tries to keep him on a leash when all he wants is to break free. There’s so many opportunities for him to break that fraying leash; bit by bit the threads pop loose as Michael looses his patience. Here’s his chance to do it.

“Fine. I’ll be leaving in fifteen.” He grumbled. The leash frays more, but Michael stays firmly clipped on. He hung up without waiting for a response.

He barged into Luke’s room after he’s had a bit of a breather to loosen his tension and announced, “I’m leaving in like thirteen minutes, my mum’s worried and wants me home.”

“Oh, alright.” Luke’s smile was weak, but he managed. Michael, sitting next to Luke on the bed, saw right through it; he knew Luke’s disappointed but it’s out of both their control.

“So…” Luke began, “How often do you tell your mother ‘no’?”

“What?” Michael gave him an incredulous look.

“You heard me!”

“What kind of a question is that?”

“Stop answering my question with a question.”

“Lamest line ever man.”

“Don’t switch the subject either!”

“Fine fine.” Michael sighed. He paused for moments on end, seeming to think hard about it. “Uhhhh…. what was the question?”

“Michael!” Luke let out a short fit of laughter. “How often do you say ‘no’ to your mum?”

“Well… to be honest I don’t.” Michael rubbed his neck with the palm of his hand. 

“You should. Convince her to let you stay over.” Luke insisted, a wicked grin on his face. “We’d have so much fun.”

“I can’t…” Michael said warily. The way Luke spoke about ‘fun’ was almost in a sinister manner, and it kind of scared Michael slightly.

“You can.”

“No, I literally _can’t_.” 

“And why not?” 

“Because she’s my mum. I’m supposed to obey; I’m supposed to be a good son and the man of the house, I can’t just go against her after all she’s done for me.” Michael sighed, rubbing the corner of his temple. Eight minutes.

“Dude, you can say no every once in a while.” Luke laughed. “Who knew punk-ass Michael Clifford would be such a momma’s boy?”

“Shut up Hemmings!” Michael playfully punched Luke’s shoulder.

“Oh, strong one aren’tcha?” Luke teased. His joke elicited a smile from Michael, which brightened Luke’s mood a bit. He liked it when Michael smiled. 

“Dude I’m the strongest.” He joked, ‘flexing’ his biceps and kissing each one.

“Well, magic wise you probably are one of them.” 

And there was the slip of the tongue. 

Neither of them had talked about that yet. Of course Luke had explained to Michael what he is, but he never got in detail about demon powers. He’s pretty sure that they don’t teach kids about demons here, as there’s none in the city - which is proven to be complete and utter bullshit considering Michael’s inside - but he’s waiting for Michael to ask about it.

“Considering I only have five minutes left, I’m assuming there’s not enough time to explain?” Michael asked.

“We wouldn’t even be able to cover half of it. Not to mention all your questions.” Luke sighed. “If only you’d say no to your mum.”

“Luke.” Michael said flatly.

“I know, I know. I’m not trying to pressure you into doing anything you don’t want to.” He apologized.

“And if you ever try I’ll sink you halfway down into the floor.” Michael joked, though a part of him looked dead serious - this glint in his eye. Luke figured it was his inner demon talking.

“You know, you never cease to amaze me.” Luke’s eyes searched Michael’s for that same demon glint he’s been accustomed to noticing. But it vanished; Luke’s eyes widened in awe - it’s not typically normal for demons to lose that glint in their eye.

Michael’s face tinged pink slightly at the comment and he averted his eyes away from Luke’s intense gaze. “Thanks. You’re pretty cool yourself.”

“I know.” Luke cockily replied, earning another punch in the arm from Michael. “Okay, okay - ow! I get it, don’t be cocky. I bet that’ll bruise now.”

“Good, let it teach you a lesson about being sassy around me.” Michael threatened lightheartedly. He checked his phone. “Shit man, I better be heading out now.”

“Damn. See you tomorrow, right?” Luke asked, bringing Michael in for a hug. It wasn’t one of those one-armed, wimpy ‘bro hugs’ - this was a full on koala grip between the two of them, as if they wouldn’t be seeing each other for a long time.

“Yeah.” Michael mumbled into the crook of Luke’s neck, his head resting on Luke’s shoulder. He’s never been hugged like this before; not by Calum, or his own mother - he felt safe.

When they finally let go of each other, Michael gave Luke a small smile as they headed out to his car. The car drive was relatively short, as Michael didn’t live that far from Luke though it was still quite a distance and slightly dangerous to be walking around at night alone.

“Bye Luke.” Michael said as he exited Luke’s car. They’d just pulled up and already Michael’s mom was hovering in the doorway.

“Later Mikey.” Luke winked as he drove off. Michael was slightly irked - he doesn’t necessarily like nicknames like that. But coming from Luke, he let it slide.

As Michael walked up to his door he could practically feel the anger radiating off his mum. When he passed her in the doorway, her glare was burning hot on the back of his neck. Michael jumped slightly at the sound of the door slamming behind him and braced himself for what was yet to come.

“Michael! How many times do I tell you not to stay out too late!” His mother cried. “When you said you had a science project with that boy I didn’t think you’d be working for five hours!”

“Chill out mum.” Michael snorted. “Our science project took longer than I thought, we did it wrong at first.”

“Still, after getting in that kind of trouble at school I don’t want you hanging around that boy. I’m still wary of him - no decent human would ever convince someone of doing what you did to that poor girl.” She scoffed.

“Hey mum, guess what?” Michael was getting irritated. “ _I_ was the one who convinced him to help me. Not the other way around. So don’t go blaming him for this, and don’t go thinking I’m a pure innocent child because _I’m not_.”

He could feel it bubbling in his veins; the demon inside him is crying out to unleash this pent up anger at his mother. It seemed to only grow more and more hungry for chaos after his initial incident with its voice.

Before he could do anything he knew he’d regret, Michael stormed up the staircase and into his room. He paced back and forth, his anger beginning to broil. He needs to control it, he can’t let it get out of hand.

“Control yourself Michael. You’ve never been like this before, why start now? You’ve no reason to. Relax. Breathe.”

He sat on his bed and tried to control his raging temper. After some time, he began to feel everything subside - the anger, the breathlessness, the magick buildup inside him. Michael smiled widely once he felt everything pass for good, and collapsed onto the back of the bed in relief.

“MICHAEL!” He heard his mothers’ enraged cry from downstairs. “TAKE YOUR BED OUT OF THE CEILING THIS INSTANT!”

Sure enough Michael’s bed frame and half the mattress had sunk into his floor. _So much for controlling it_ , he thought.


	8. Author's Note

For anyone who was looking forward to reading more of this fic I apologize for not updating in more than a month. First semester came to a close but now I'm finding myself having to step it up second semester so that when the senioritis kicks in I don't end up failing. I'll have a chapter up this weekend though!


	9. Mistakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Major feels at the end, sorry for the cliffhanger!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't proofread this sorry for any mistakes.

“Michael! Luke’s here for you!” his mothers’ voice echoed up the stairs. Michael was in the midst of slipping - more like struggling - into his tight black jeans when he heard rapid footsteps come up the stairs.

“Hey Micha-“

“Luke stay out!” Michael shouted, scrambling to try and shut his door before Luke walked it and saw him half naked.

Too late.

Michael tripped over his own feet before he could reach the door. Moments later Luke swung the door open.

“Ah fuck!” Michael shouted as the door collided with the side of his head. Luke stifled a laugh at the scene before him. Michael’s bare ass was on full display, his pants around his ankles, his hand clutching his aching head.

“Sorry mate, didn’t know you were…. this early in the morning.” Luke joked, his chuffed laugher couldn’t be held back any longer.

“Shut the fuck up it’s not what it looks like.” Michael groaned, lying on the floor. Luke seeing Michael’s ass was embarrassing, he didn’t want Luke to see his junk too.

“It looks like you have a cute ass.”

Michael choked on the air. He didn’t see that one coming.

“But I suppose you’re right, it doesn’t look cute anymore.” Luke teased.

Michael’s face turned the brightest shade of pink; he was just glad Luke couldn’t see the incredible blush he was sporting.

“Hey Luke? Close the fucking door and _get the fuck out_.” Michael groaned.

“Okay, okay.” Luke said, before slyly adding, “I’ll be waiting for your cute ass downstairs.”

Michael heaved a sigh as the door in front of him closed. Surely, he thought, it couldn’t get more embarrassing than this.

“By the way,” Luke chimed through the door, “you’ve got a cute butt freckle.”

“I’m gonna fucking murder him.” Michael muttered as he stood up, getting slightly agitated at Luke’s hysteric laughter through the door. He shook his head and let out a smile, there’s no way he could be mad at a boy with that contagious of a laugh.

It took him a couple minutes to squeeze into his jeans - that’s the last time he puts them in the dryer - and walk out of his bedroom. Downstairs, Michael noticed Luke was sitting with his mother. And talking. _Oh boy, this can’t be good_ , he thought.

“Finally Michael!” His mother exclaimed, shooting a brilliant smile at him. “Y’know, Luke was just telling me about why you caused that girl a bit of trouble yesterday. And I’m sorry for accusing him honey, I didn’t know the full story. I mean, it’s only natural for you to stick up to people like that.”

“Thanks mom.” Michael said in a confused, fake-happy tone. He glanced over to Luke, to which Luke only responded with a wink. “Anyways… Luke let’s head out or we’re gonna be late.”

“Ok. By Karen!” Luke flashed a charming smile at her and Michael could practically see any negative connotations she held with Luke dissipate.

“How the fuck-“ Michael started.

“Did I get out of your mom’s bad side?” Luke gave him a wry smile. “I have my ways.”

Michael rolled his eyes as he climbed into the passenger’s seat of Luke’s car. Luke slid into the driver’s seat cooly; he dramatically turned his head to face Michael, flipped the sunglasses down from his head to the bridge of his nose, and demand, “Let’s go, bitch.”

“What the fuck-” Michael laughed at Luke’s ridiculous actions; as Michael’s laughter died down he took another look at Luke and started cackling once more. Soon enough both boys were in hysterics, and all that rang in Michael’s head was Luke’s beautiful laugh.

“Oh-okay.” Michael choppily said, trying to breathe normally. “We-we need to get, to school. Or else we-we’re going to be late.”

“Yeah.” Luke let out a final breathy laugh as he put the key in the ignition. His face glowed with delight, and it captivated Michael. He’s never seen someone look so bright, so happy. He can hardly remember the last time he laughed as hard as he just did.

 

*~*~*

 

At school they were the only thing anyone would talk about. The feat they performed was so high level that Michael’s schedule had been completely flipped around to move him into second degree magick classes. 

Michael hoped that he wouldn’t have been put in _their_ class. The last thing he wanted was to be hated more by Caroline and her group. If Caroline realized that Michael’d been moved up due to the “suffering” he caused her, she’d have such a fit that he’d never hear the end of it.

“Well well well,” a familiar voice rang in his ears, “Look who happened to be placed into _my_ magick class.”

“And the suffering begins.” Michael sarcastically groaned. He spun around on his heels and gave a big, fake grin. “Hi, Caroline.”

“Clifford.” She spat. “You may have finally make it into my class with the most mediocre of skills, but don’t forget who’s the most powerful one here.”

“Oh Caroline, Caroline, Caroline,” Michael sighed, placing his hand on her shoulder. She shrugged it off with a look of disgust. “We’ll see who’s the most powerful one here when presentations come up.”

“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes, strutting off in a manner that looked like an overly-angsty runway model.

“Where did that come from?” Another familiar voice spoke; but this time it was one that brought a smile to his face.

“I don’t know. I just feel so…. powerful now.” Michael turned to look at Luke. Luke’s face has a huge, shit-eating grin on it, with a hint of pride in his eyes. Michael’s never felt so happy to see such a sight.

“And you should. But you’ve gotta be more careful now.” Luke lowered his voice, taking a step closer to Michael. He leaned down and whispered softly in his ear. “My place after school”

Without a second glance Luke pulled away and cockily sauntered off to his seat, leaving Michael to stand at the front of the classroom alone. The bell rang, causing Michael to jump slightly. And then the nerves kicked in.

“Well?” His new teacher - Mr. Chasting - droned, glancing up from his book to look at Michael. Realization caught his face an instant after. “I’m sorry Mr. Clifford, I assumed you were Luke.”

“Anyways, class, we have a new student in here; finally moved up to second degree magick. Congratulations, Michael. Why don’t you take a seat next to…”

Michael tensed. Miraculously, there was an open seat beside Luke, but also a seat next to Caroline and some other student Michael didn’t know. 

“Ashton.”

“I’m sorry, who?” Michael asked.

“That would be me.” A boy with short, curly hair raised his hand. Michael hesitantly walked over and set his stuff down.

“You look happy to sit next to me.” Ashton said softly while Mr. Chasting began his lecture.

“I was hoping to be next to Luke, but anyone is better than Caroline.” Michael replied, a blush coming to his face.

“Luke?” Ashton questioned, his eyes darting over towards the blond boy. He was currently asleep on his desk, probably drooling the day away.

“Yeah, he’s kinda one of the only friends I have.” Michael shrugged.

“He’s never mentioned you before.” Ashton questioned. 

_That_ hit Michael like a brick.

“Wait, you know him?” Michael asked, his interest piqued.

“Yeah, we’ve been friends since childhood.” Ashton explained. “His aunt does business with my dad.”

“Wait, what?” Michael probed. He wanted answers, and now.

“Mr Clifford, Mr. Irwin, is my lecture bothering you?” Mr. Chasting raised his voice at the boys. It caught Luke’s attention, and he smirked towards Michael.

“Kind of, actually.” Michael replied. “Think you could keep it down a bit?”

“As much as I appreciate your humor, Mr. Clifford, I’m afraid I have to give you detention.” Mr. Chasting sighed. “And I was really hoping we wouldn’t have a second sarcastic problem student in the class.”

Michael rolled his eyes and shut his mouth, resorting to doodling in his notebook. His phone vibrated in his pocket and, after checking to see if Mr. Chasting still had his eye on his, he pulled it out to see who texted him.

**Lukey  
** See you in detention

 

*~*~*

 

“Honestly, that felt like forever.” Michael groaned as he and Luke walked out of the detention room.

“What, you’ve never been in detention before?” Luke questioned, and Michael shook his head in response.

“Well, there’s a first time for everything.” Luke laughed. “We’d better get to my house to practice honing your magick.”

As Michael climbed into Luke’s car, he couldn’t help but think about what Ashton said earlier. He studied Luke’s face; it was cool and collected, eyes focused on the road. _What could he be hiding?_

“So, uh, Ashton seemed to know you.” Michael spoke up, the lump in his throat growing bigger.

“Yeah.” Luke turned to him, giving him a short, easygoing smile. “He’s like a brother to me, known him my whole life practically.”

“He mentioned something about your aunt’s work….” Michael trailed off, not wanting to probe.

“I suppose I can tell you now that I know you’re a demon.” Luke sighs. “She’s part of a demon coalition. Everyone in the coalition is a demon - including my aunt and Ashton’s dad - but they’re dedicated to helping other demons find their way in Aldhaven. They help them get into here, learn how to control their impulses, stay hidden, be normal. Kind of what I’m doing for you.”

“Then why don’t you just hand me over to them?” Michael asked, not that he wanted to be anyways.

“Because…” Luke sighed, his cheeks tinged rosy. “You’re fun to be around. And you’re young, and already born in Aldhaven, and I don’t wanna have to give you up to them for training when we can have fun on our own.”

A strange feeling burned in the pit of Michael’s stomach, but he ignored it. The last thing he wanted to deal with was these weird feelings he gets, though he suspects it’s just from the recently broken seal on his demon magick.

They pulled into Luke’s complex driveway a few minutes later. They got out of the car and entered Luke’s apartment in a strange, but comforting silence, until they got into his room.

“So, we’re going to have to practice your intangibility skills.” Luke exclaimed. “Don’t think I didn’t see the way your head fell through your textbook while you were about to fall asleep in class.”

“Oh… you saw that….” Michael nervously laughed as he sat down on Luke’s bed. It wasn’t exactly his finest moment.

“Yeah, so first thing’s first,” Luke pulled his textbook from his bag, “Make this intangible.”

“Easy.” Michael said. The book dropped through Luke’s hands, and became tangible just before hitting his feet.

“OW FUCK!” Luke shouted in pain, giving Michael a wry smile. “You little shit, you did that on purpose!”

“Awww, does wittle Wuke want mommy to kiss it better?” Michael joked.

His breath caught in his throat as Luke moved in closer to him, beding down to place his handson the bed beside Michael’s body. His face was a couple inches away from Michael’s, minty-sweet breath intoxicating to Michael’s brain.

“No, but maybe someone else can.” Luke quietly whispered, slowly leaning in towards Michael.

In that glorious instant, Michael’s cell phone blared out, interrupting whatever golden moment they were just about to share. Both boys leaned away from each other, panicked realization flooding each other.

“I, uh, I’ve gotta, yeah, take this.” Michael stuttered, fumbling to pull his phone from his pocket. Without taking another glance at Luke, he bolted out of Luke’s room.

It was Calum calling.

“Hey! Whe-” Calum was cut short by Michael’s frantic speech and he rushed out of Luke’s house.

“Calum, hey, um I need you to come pick me up now I’m freaking the fuck out Luke just and I can’t and everything is too much this is so bad I just freaked I can’t face him anymore.” Michael reeled,his words coming out at a mile a minute.

“Woah, calm down mate. I’ll come get you, where are you now?” Calum asked softly.

Michael didn’t realize it, but he’d been running away the entire time. To make matters worse, he had no idea what direction he was headed in.

“I… I don’t know what part of town this is in but I’m at the corner of Ashford street and Tamalong road.” Michael breathed out, thankful that there was a street sign.

“Okay, I’ll plug it into my GPS and come get you. I don’t think that’s far from where I am now, actually.” He reassured. 

Michael sullenly took a seat on the corner and put his head in his hands. A long, frustrated groan erupted from his lips as tears threatened to spill from his eyes.

“And Michael?” Calum’s soft voice came from the phone still pressed to his ear. “It’ll be okay.”

And with that, Michael finally cried for the first time in two years.


	10. Martyr

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm actually updating at a decent-ish time after my previous upload. Yay! ^-^ This had probably been my most thoughtful and favorite chapter yet.

Michael sat on the sidewalk, shivering as the cool breeze ghosted over his paling skin. His eyes were puffy and red; he’d finally stopped crying. Sat on the corner for the past fifteen minutes, he constantly checked his phone. 

It was nearly six-thirty. He truthfully didn’t think it would take Calum this long to reach him, then again he had no idea where Calum even was when he called. All he could do was sit and wait.

His phone kept going off, texts and calls from Luke scattering the mixed notifications on his lockscreen. He didn’t bother to read them, only swiped down to clear the messages from the notification center every time his phone buzzed. 

He knew he freaked out, knew he overreacted and knew that he should definitely have not made such a big deal about it. After all, it was what he desired in that moment. But it still made perfect sense in his mind to ignore it, for it wasn’t right for himself to be that way.

He can’t like boys.

For years his mother had talked to him about girls. In elementary she’d ask who he thought had the most cooties, junior high - who he thought was the cutest. And when high school hit, she’d constantly pester him about potential girlfriends. She was so adamant about him going out with a girl - hugging girls, kissing girls, _girlsgirlsgirls_ \- he’d no room to even think about a boy that way.

Until now, when he’d nearly given his first kiss to one. Now, his mind was whirling with thoughts of the past; back to third grade when he was so jealous of that boy with the golden hair because he wanted hair like his. To seventh grade, when he was envious of Casey’s lean body compared to his softer one. To the beginning of high school when his eyes would linger slightly too long at the male track team as they passed by, their muscular bodies gleaming with sweat. It all started to click together.

That was the worst part.

These little subtleties, minuscule memories in comparison to the vast others, justify his suspicions. Intensify his fear. But he can’t accept it - he won’t.

The darkening clouds rumble overhead, threatening to rain their truth on him. Part of him wants them to break, for the skies to split and lightning to strike and consume him whole; he longs for the relieving feeling of the rain washing away the impurities. But he knows that if they do, if the sky breaks and rain cascades over him, by the time it was over he wouldn’t be free from himself. He’d only be covered in the truth.

Part of him does want it. He really does wish he could accept this fiery inferno whose flames lap at his heart and ashes burn in his throat. But the coals sink his stomach and the feeling is too uncomfortable to find means to reconcile with. 

He felt the first drop of rain splash onto the side of his face. Like a teardrop it rolled down his cheekbone and fell off his chin, coming to a halt on his black jeans. The next one came a few seconds after, the one after that even less time, until large drops began to pour from the sky. 

Michael shivered as the icy drops hit his bare skin and sapped the warmth. Despite being previously physically warm, Michael felt cold. The inferno that blazed in him was hot, so hot it felt like ice. It twisted his lungs and compressed his chest, rendering him breathless.

He leaned against the street pole, hair flat against his forehead and water dripping into his eyes. Every so often he would scan the streets for any sign of a car, but the absence of sunlight combined with the flurry of rain made his vision unreliable. He tried to rely on hearing, but the steady drum of the rain pulsing to the beat of the wind drowned out every other sound he could possibly hear.

Except the thunder.

It cracked and groaned overhead, shouting those words Michael daren’t speak while the rain hissed them into his ears. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, using his damp jacket as a shield from the rain, only to find that it was dead. He’s stuck on this timeless miserable corner, stuck between who he is and who he’s expected to be - who _he_ expects himself to be.

He hung his head low, closed his eyes. Emptying his mind, he felt the rain pound against his head. It drilled those words into his skull, told him to accept them and forget his life’s teachings, society’s normalcy. The crack in his mind eroded as the rain pelted harder, as the thunder boomed louder. A split of lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating what was right in front of Michael, what he didn’t want to see.

Momentarily, he began to let it in, began to believe those theories and their evidence. But a blinding light shone against Michael’s face and broke his trance. His mind hazy, he lolled his head upwards to find a large, dark figure in front of him. Its hands touched his body, shook his head, slapped his cheek. It seemed to try to be coaxing him.

But Michael’s senses were thrown off. He could hear the person through cotton eardrums, could feel his touch like the tickle of a feather. The words slurred together like that of a drunk’s, except it was Michael who felt the floating buzz in his head. Without a single motion in protest, Michael allowed himself to be picked up by the figure.

When the rain ceased to beat against Michael’s skin, he began to regain consciousness towards his surroundings. Everything began to slowly piece itself together; he was in a car, a familiar car, with a familiar person.

Calum.

He wanted to say something, to thank Calum, but as soon as he opened his mouth his words caught in his throat and began to tighten the noose around his neck that held his mind by its threads. Not yet coming to terms with what he felt, he opted for silence.

Wordlessly Calum peeled Michael’s wet clothes from his body, leaving nothing but his soaked boxers clinging to his legs. Michael mindlessly cooperated as Calum began to tend for him. Small words would be exchanged - ‘raise your arms’, ‘move off the seat’ - ringing through Michael’s head.

He was empty. The wildfire that seized his body before had died in the rain. Everything was soaked to the core, smothered in the thoughts that Michael wanted to purge himself of. He felt nothing.

Calum noticed this. The light in Michael’s face, the life in his eyes, had dulled. The more Michael sat in the rain, the colder he physically got, the more he deteriorated inside. And this self-destruction, Michael’s desolation, began to slowly eat away at Calum as well.

They sat in the backseat of Calum’s car, heater blasting, Michael’s chilled body curled up against Calum’s warm clothes. After a minute of Michael’s constant shivering, Calum pulled off his hoodie and helped Michael into it in hoped that it would make him warm again.

It worked after a few Minutes. Michael’s complexion began to regain its peachy-pale color and his skin began to feel less like thawing ice. But there wasn’t a trace of vivacity returning to Michael’s features, and Calum grew worrisome.

“Michael?” Calum whispered softly. 

“Yeah.” Michael croaked back. Calum wasn’t expecting Michael to reply, but the roughness in his voice is what caught him off guard. It was coarse, obvious to Calum that he’d been crying, but also carried a distinctive heaviness.

“What happened to you?” He asked in a small voice. Michael was silent for a long moment. “You don’t have to answer.”

“L-Luke.” Michael stuttered, eyes cast to the floor, shoulders hunched and shuddering. “He ha-happened.”

Calum hesitated; it’s evident that it hurt Michael to talk about it, but he needed to know. He needed to know why his best friend would voluntarily let himself freeze to death. “What did he do?”

“What did _we_ do.” Michael stated. He let out a long groan as his head fell into his hands. “How do I even explain this without you hating me.”

“Michael, I could never hate you.” Calum said seriously. He gripped Michael’s shoulders and forced Michael to look him in the eyes. “I’m serious mate. Even if you killed somebody - which you nearly did, I might add - I could _never_ hate you.”

“Luke… we…” Michael took in a deep breath, preparing himself to finally say it out loud. To accept that it almost happened. “We almost… kissed.”

Calum’s face remained the same. He was shocked, but for Michael’s sake he couldn’t let any sort of judgmental emotion come across his face. Not while Michael’s heart was on the cutting board and he held the knife.

“Okay.” Calum said after a couple lingering moments. “That’s okay, Mikey. If you like bo-”

“I _don’t_.” Michael seethed, anger flaring in his eyes. It was the first actual emotion Calum had seen since he brought Michael into his car. He couldn’t tell whether to be happy or not about it.

But something broke in Michael seconds after, and his eyes became filled with a hopeless look that gutted Calum. Michael’s voice cracked, “I _can’t_.”

“Oh, Mikey.” Calum murmured as he pulled his best friend in for a firm embrace.

Michael’s emotionless exterior shattered. He hugged his arm around Calum’s torso, burying his nose into Calum’s neck and clinging to his body. His shell was slowly falling apart, but as it was doing so Calum allowed himself to become Michael’s shield. 

“I-I can’t like him Cal. I can’t. Girls. It has to be - has to be girls.” Michael sobbed into his shoulder. Calum could feel Michael’s suffering as if it was his own; he knew firsthand how large of an expectation it was for Michael to be straight, for Michael to fall in love and marry a nice girl. Over time, he realized that Michael was not straight, knew before Michael did himself. He only wished he’d brought it up sooner.

“But you can, Michael.” Calum whispered soothly into Michael’s ear, rocking him back and forth. “You can, and it’s okay. Nothing will change if you do.”

“It will.” Michael sniffled. “It will and it already has.”

As much as Calum wanted to deny it, it was true. It’s already changed Michael, turned him against himself and transformed him mind into a battlefield. And right now, Michael’s losing.

“So what?” Calum brazenly spoke. “So what if you like boys, so what if it’s changed you a bit. You’re still _you_. Nothing about you _has_ to change, you are who you are despite your preference.”

Part of his speech uplifted Michael, made Michael believe that nothing really has to change. But deep down, he knew everything would be different. If he came out, if everyone else knew, he’d be outcasted.

“It will change everything Calum. Maybe not everything about me, but it will change everything around me. And you know it.” He solemnly spoke. “Can you please just take me home?”

“You sure you don’t want to stay with me? I’m sure your mum won’t mind.” Calum hopefully offered. 

Michael winced at the word ‘mum’.

“I just need to be alone.” Michael muttered.

Calum let out a defeated sigh and nodded at Michael’s request. He clambered into the driver’s seat and sat for a moment, wanting to say something more to Michael. But he didn’t know what to say.

“Buckle up, please.” He requested.

Michael shifted from the middle of the backseat to the far right. He pulled the seatbelt across his body, moving with a sluggish feeling in his limbs. Everything about him was tired, weighed down as if he was covered in molasses.

Calum turned the ignition on and began to drive. Michael watched at they made a U-turn, eyes glued to the spot he previously sat on the sidewalk. The rain hadn’t ceased, in fact it seemed to have picked up slightly. He watched it stream down the window as they rolled past the hazy suburbs. 

He knew they must have passed Luke’s apartment complex at one point, but Michael didn’t dare look towards the left window. He knew that if he did, he would crumble again, and he didn’t want to leave Calum with the burden of picking up his pieces.

The ride to his house was unexpectedly short. What should have been an eight minute drive felt like thirty seconds, but Michael supposed time flies when you’re trapped in your own thoughts.

“Hey, Mikey there’s some spare sweats in the back if you wanna put those on.” Calum offered. Michael leaned over the backseat and fished through the junk. When he finally came across them and hastily put them on, but hesitated to get out of the car.

“My offer still stands.” Calum suggested, his voice soft as though Michael would break down once more.

“Goodbye Calum, I’ll see you at school tomorrow.” Michael muttered. But as he opened the car door to leave, he stopped tentatively. “And thank you, for this.”

Hood up, Michael walked up to his doorstep. Thankful the door was unlocked, he made his way towards the stairs until a small post-it note caught his attention on the small table by the entryway.

_Double shift at work today, I’ll be home around midnight._

He stared at his mothers’ scrawled handwriting, with the non-symmetric heart drawn next to her words. Michael’s eyes burned with tears again, but he blinked them away before they could unleash their pain again.

Michael sulked up to his bedroom. Each step was weighted down by the lead shame that coursed through his veins. His eyes were cast to the floor despite there being nobody to look at. Except his own reflection.

Falling onto his bed, he stared up at his ceiling. The darkness of his room consumed him, the thunder outside his lullaby. He urged for sleep to overcome him, for the fatigue to kick in and make its drowsy appearance in his eyes. It never came.

At twelve-o-three he heard the faint sound of the front door open and close. Michael was certain he’d have been long asleep by now, but alas he was still wide awake and swimming in the rising pool of his own thoughts.

And like that, he spent the night, being a victim of his own martyrdom.


	11. Second Thoughts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is undeniably, so extremely late. I was going to put it up yesterday afternoon but I ended up going to see The Summer Set perform instead so I'm sorry about that. I promise the next update will be up within a week!

The days that followed Michael spent avoiding Luke. He often went out of his way just to stay out of his line of sight, re-routing his ways in the halls and occasionally being late on purpose. But that one class, that one dreadful class, continuously screwed him over.

Michael could feel Luke’s eyes, intense waves of heat on the side of his face, on him every day. So far Michael’s been in the clear; Luke hasn’t attempted to talk to him, which should make Michael relieved but he could only summon disappointment. Part of him feels like Luke blames Michael for their almost-kiss, like it was Michael who’d initiated it and freaked Luke out. He knows that’s not the case.

If Ashton had been informed, he didn’t show it. Continuously throughout the passing days he would talk to Michael like he normal; they’d exchange friendly bants and develop their friendship quickly. Already Michael had been over to Ashton’s house - which was very grandiose, it’s glamour borderline extraneous - and hung out with him after school.

Despite this he felt empty. His purpose in life was to wake up, go to school, learn to become something he doesn’t want to be to make him mum proud, sleep, and repeat. It was a rather mundane cycle, one most people are be tolerant of, that Michael should be tolerant of. However, in reality, all Michael wants to do is wake up, wallow in his emptiness, sleep, then repeat. He felt not only void of all emotions, but of all energy as well; like there is some sort of leak springing from his veins, an aperture in his mind that slowly drains away his willpower.

But he keeps up a facade around his friends, devotes whatever’s left of his already spent spirit to pretending like he is alright. The last thing Michael wants is for Calum to pick up on his unhappiness, and the only resolution he can think of is to pretend that it was all just a strange period of confusion. Calum doesn’t buy it. 

So on Wednesday after school he decides to pry the truth out of Michael.

“Michael, you’re not okay.” Calum protested as he and Michael slowly walked towards his car.

Michael rolled his eyes at Calum’s statement. “And I keep telling you _you’re wrong_.”

“What will it take for you to open up to me?” Calum asked, his voice strained. Michael could tell that his unhappiness hurt his best friend as much as himself.

“When have you not trusted me with anything?” Calum continued. “I’ve been there with you for everything, what’s different this time?”

“Everything!” Michael shouts, causing a few passerby’s to stare at them. He’d momentarily forgotten that, while it’s the end of the day in school, there’s still people leaving.

“Then tell me everything.” Calum forcefully embraces his best friend. He doesn’t expect Michael to return it. “Tell me all about it, and I promise to stick with you through it.”

“Calum…” Michael’s voice cracked. Subconsciously his hands clung onto Calum’s shirt. “I fucked up so much.”

“Shhhh, Mikey it’ll be okay.” Calum whispered soothingly, hugging Michael even tighter. “Let’s get into my car, okay? And then you can tell me everything that’s troubling you.”

They walked to the car in silence, but Michael’s left hand continued to cling the the looser part of Calum’s shirt. Part of Calum’s heart shattered, for Michael’s only ever this clingy when he’s extremely upset. Once they’d sat down inside Calum’s car, Calum turned to face Michael. Michael shifted uncomfortable in the passenger’s seat, seeming like he hadn’t thought everything out thoroughly.

And he hadn’t. Truthfully, he’d hoped that Calum would have immediately driven him home. He didn’t anticipate Calum waiting to hear him out. Hell, he didn’t even know where to begin. First there’s his sexuality - which he doesn’t even know himself at this point - but there’s also the fact that’s he’s a demon. Right now, Michael can’t decide whether to tell him about the latter or keep him in the dark until Michael gains a bit more control over his abilities. Which he can’t do without Luke, which brings him back to the full circle of problems.

“Mikey…” Calum says softly. “Talk to me, yeah? How’d you fuck up? I don’t even need the entire details, I just want to help.”

“It’s…” Michael started. _It’s Luke, it’s my sexuality, it’s the fact I nearly got hypothermia in the pouring rain because we nearly kissed, it’s because I’m a demon who comes from a pure line of magick users._ “It’s complicated.”

“Then elaborate.” Calum pushed, and Michael knew Calum wouldn’t leave him alone. The grey clouds rumbled overhead, mimicking Michael’s stormy mood.

“I fucked up my friendship with Luke.” Michael grumbled. “The one friend I have besides you and I completely throw it all away.”

“I’m sorry mate.” Calum casts his eyes away from Michael for a brief moment. “Is there any way you can fix it?”

“I seriously doubt it Cal.”

“What exactly did you do?”

There it was again. The prodding question that caused Michael’s heart to twist painfully with guilt. 

“I…” Michael trailed off. He took a deep breath to try and calm his nerves. It didn’t work, but he spoke anyways. “I almost kissed him.”

Calum was silent for a few moments. Shock was written plainly across his face, but for good reason. All his life he he’d heard about how much Michael loves girls - their boobs, their pretty hair, their bodies. Not once had he heard his best friend talk about guys in such manner. 

He knew he should say something, but _what_? Calum desperately tried to rack his brain for something - anything - to say to Michael. But everything came up blank. Much to Calum’s horror, Michael took his silence the wrong way.

“I _knew_ it.” Michael’s voice crack. His entire face screamed betrayal. “I knew you’d be like this, everyone’s always like this when they hear shit like this and-”

Calum leaned across and held his friend in the same bone-crushing way he’d done before. Michael’s body was tense, as if he didn’t know what to make of this situation. And Michael truly didn’t. Part of him wanted to hug Calum back, but the other part of him was wary. For what reasons Michael didn’t know, but he assumed that while being so vulnerable everyone has to have have at least some doubt, even in people they’d trust with their life.

“You haven’t told me what you are, but whatever it is I’m completely there to support you.” Calum murmured, tucking his head into the crook of Michael’s neck.

Salty tears spilled down Michael’s face. He was so _terrified_ that Calum would reject him, that he’d be disgusted and not want anything to do with Michael anymore. But Calum’s words of encouragement washed over him and drowned out those fears.

“Thank you.” Michael’s voice was hoarse. Up until then, he hasn’t realized how much he’d been crying recently and how it had rendered his voice much more scratchy than usual.

They sat there, embracing one another, for a long time. One again there was utter silence between the two, but this time it was different. A calm aura had filled the car, a sort of feeling that lulled them into a hazy daydream state. Calum felt like all was right in the world, and Michael… Michael felt like he’d just successfully placed a tricky puzzle piece into it’s matching counterpart. He wished he could make this moment, this feeling, infinite.

“Michael.” Calum sighed, breaking both the silence and the prolonged hug. “What exactly happened.”

“I just…” Michael let out a heavy breath. “It all happened too fast. One moment we were working on my intangibility skills and the next he was about to kiss me. Then you called me right as that was happening and I kinda of just freaked and left. You know the rest after that.”

“Have you talked to him about it?”

“No.”

“You have to, Michael.”

“I can’t.”

“That doesn’t matter. You _must_. You’ll never get over this if you don’t.”

Michael knew Calum was entirely correct. He knows he’ll be haunted by this for ages if he doesn’t get clarification. Hell, he doesn’t even know what he wants clarification of, he only knows that in order to clear these thoughts that plague his mind he has to confront the root of them all. He’s got to talk to Luke.

“I’m scared.” Michael admits timidly. Calum’s expression softened as he realized just how much of Michael was out in the open, raw and exposed and frightened of being wounded.

“I know.” Calum replied quietly. “Remember: whatever happens, I’m here for you.”

“Besides,” he continued, “if Luke initiated the kiss, there’s good chance he’s feeling the same way right now.”

Michael hadn’t even considered that. He’d been so wrapped up with his own faults that he’d completely forgotten that it _was_ Luke who’d initiated it. He was so obsessed with the idea of humiliation and unaccepting people that he hadn’t even thought once that Luke might be thinking that he’s the one who screwed everything up.

“I feel so stupid.” Michael moaned at this sudden realization.

“Hey, hey, don’t say that.” Calum patted his friend on the shoulder. “It’s only natural for you to think like that. I bet Luke doesn’t even think that you believe _you_ fucked everything up.”

“Point taken.” Michael makes a feeble attempt at a laugh. He’s only slightly cheered up, though. Despite Calum’s urging, he still feels mostly responsible for the previous week’s events. After all, it was he who spent his time avoiding Luke.

“Now, we’re gonna get you home and you’re gonna call Luke.” Calum said, his tone slightly harder than before. Michael immediately panicked; the last thing he wanted to do was call Luke. However, it wasn’t because he wanted to avoid him, but Michael felt it improper to discuss something of such importance over a call or text.

“No, Cal.” Michael’s own voice, strong and sure, surprised himself. “I’ve gotta talk to him in person, or else it means nothing.”

“Okay buddy.” Cal gave his best friend a wide smile. “For this, I’m gonna treat you to whatever pizza you desire.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Luke you’ve got to stop moping about!” Ashton exclaimed, pulling the bedsheets off of his best friend. Luke only groaned in response and made a feeble attempt to pull the covers back onto himself. Ashton kept them securely in his hand.

“I’m sick of you lying in bed, feeling sorry for yourself. Get out there and _talk to him_.”

“How the hell am I supposed to do that if he won’t even come near me!” Luke retorted hotly, a fiery rage building in his chest directed not at Ashton but at himself. He knows very well how he’s supposed to do that; and he hated his cowardice, how he can’t find the courage to at least attempt to talk to Michael.

Ashton flashed Luke a look that mirrored Luke’s own thoughts. Luke let out a frustrated groan and rose into a sitting position, resting his hands in both of his hands.

“What do you suggest I say?” Luke muttered. “‘Hey, sorry for almost kissing you. We’re still friends right?’”

“Well, it’s not a bad start.” Ashton feigned seriousness, which in turn caused Luke’s nerves to collapse slightly.

“I’m serious Ashton.” He sighed, looking hopelessly at him. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Luke, I’m only going to say this once more. Just _talk_. It doesn’t have to be about what almost happened, talking about pointless things is better than not talking at all.”

Luke cast his head downwards, hot tears building up behind his eyes. Ashton’s right, but as right as he is it’s not what Luke wants. He doesn’t want to make small talk with Michael, he wants that intimacy he felt before he fucked everything up. 

“But what if just refuses to talk to me? What if he _hates_ me, Ashton? I don’t think I could live with myself.” Luke’s voice cracked, and so did part of Ashton’s heart.

“Listen to me, Luke” He put his hands firmly on Luke’s shoulders, causing the blonde boy to look up at him. “If he hates you because you almost kissed him, then that’s his damn loss. And you don’t deserve someone who treats you like crap, okay? Just say the word and I’ll put him in his place.”

For some reason that made Luke sick to his stomach, the thought of Ashton hurting Michael. If it turns out that Michael truly is homophobic, it would break Luke’s heart even more. But he would still feel this way about him.

“No, Ash, that’s kinda taking it too far.” He shook his head. “And it wouldn’t solve anything.”

 

“Hey.” Ashton murmured, pulling his friend in for a comforting embrace. “It’ll be alright.”

As much as Luke wanted to believe that, he couldn’t.

“Let’s go get food, yeah? I haven’t seen you eat all day.” Ashton suggested; and he was right once more, Luke hadn’t eaten in ages. All because of Michael.


	12. It Took An Eternity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That took so much longer than expected. Everything just piled up and I have no excuse for not posting this sooner but I finally finished this chapter and tried to make it as long as possible for you all! Hope whoever is still reading this is enjoying it! Summer's almost here, which means I'll have just about and infinite amount of time to write, so hopefully there'll be loads more chapters out within the next few months!

“Welcome to Pick Your Pizza, can I get you guys any drinks?” A short, blonde waitress inquired. Michael quickly perused the menu before he decided against anything.

“Just water please.”

“Make that two.” Calum chimed in.

“I’ll be back in a moment with those.” She flashed a brilliant smile in Calum’s direction. Michael assumed she meant to charm the pants off him and rolled her eyes. She’s not his type. Specifically, she probably doesn’t have a dick.

“She’s so into you.” Michael snickered. Calum gave him a bewildered look. “Don’t deny it, she was practically undressing you with her eyes.”

“As if.” Calum scoffed and - ok - Michael may have over-exaggerated with that last comment but he’s fairly certain she’d like to know what Calum looked like naked. _Rather impressive_ , Michael thought.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Calum asked, leaning back in his seat.

“Well, I was thinking about you naked.” Michael gave him an unashamed smile.

A sharp intake of breath startled the two of them; Michael looked to his left and there were Luke and Ashton, passing them by as a waiter showed them to their table. Michael’s eyes met Luke’s, and he could clearly see how hurt Luke looked. But there was something there Michael couldn’t make out; it seemed like hope.

“Uh, hey, Luke. Ashton.” Michael stuttered. It was a miracle he could even breathe at the moment.

“Michael.” Luke mumbled, turning his eyes away from Michael’s to stare at the floor. They made their way quickly to a booth, situated just to where Michael could see Luke and vice versa. Perfect.

“Ow!” Michael exclaimed as Calum hit him in the arm. “The hell was that for?”

“Go talk to him.”

“No.”

“ _Go talk to him._ ”

“ _No_ , Calum.”

“For _fuck’s sake_ Michael! This is your chance!”

“He’s here enjoying a pizza with Ashton. I seriously doubt it’d be the least bit awkward to get him alone. And we’re in _public_! You can’t talk about that shit in public.”

Calum let out a long sigh. Michael made excellent points, so excellent that he can’t even think of an idea to counter them. So he caved into Michael’s wishes, muttering a soft ‘whatever’ and continued to browse through the menu despite knowing what he wanted.

Moments later the waitress appeared again, and Michael noticed one of the buttons on her uniform happened to be popped open so that it displayed her chest the slightest bit more. He deduced that she was so interested in Calum, and the cogs began to turn in his head.

“Here’s your waters! Have you two decided on an order yet?” She asked, making sure to lean heavily towards Calum when placing his water on the table.

“Actually, I’m thinking we’d share this one. Is that okay Cal?” Michael asked sweetly, reaching across the table to tenderly hold Calum’s hand. Calum was caught off guard momentarily, but the mischievous glint in Michael’s eyes informed him to just roll with it.

“Sounds great Mikey. I’ll let you pick this time.” He shot a loving smile towards Michael. Calum had never been the best actor, and it took all the will power Michael hard to not burst out laughing at his friend’s expression.

“Pineapple and olives, high rise crust, extra cheese with light sauce please.” Michael gave the girl a polite smile, being sure to stroke Calum’s hand with his thumb. 

“Oh, uh, yeah, um, pineapple and olives, crust - high rise - and uhm, what was the rest? I, uh, I couldn’t, uh, catch it.” She stuttered, clearly surprised to see how the two were acting.

“Extra cheese with light sauce.” Calum answered. “He orders it just about every time.”

“Awww babe you remembered my order!” Michael cooed. Of course Calum remembered his order, it’s literally the only pizza he ever gets besides pepperoni.

“I remember everything when it comes to you.” Calum said, looking down and pretending to be bashful. Michael had to admit, that one seemed pretty convincing.

“You’re the absolute best boyfriend.” Michael sighed happily, squeezing Calum’s hand. 

“I’ll order, go get it, send it in, now, ok.” She stumbled backwards momentarily before disappearing towards the back of the restaurant.

Michael and Calum took one look at each other before laughter erupted from them both. They spent a good, whole minute laughing; when they finally calmed down, they took one look at each other and ended up falling into another fit of laughter.

For one blissful moment, Michael forgot about the bane directly in his line of sight. He didn’t see Luke, looking in disbelief, at the two of them acting like lovers. He didn’t see the tears building up behind Luke’s eyes. He didn’t see Luke’s heart shattering.

*~*~*~*

“Ashton look at him.” Luke sucking in a breath. “He’s…. he’s got Calum. He’s _with_ Calum.”

“Luke, I don’t think they’re actually together.” Ashton deadpanned. As much as Luke wanted to believe that, what he saw indicated otherwise.

“I pushed him towards Calum. I distanced myself so much, I practically gave him over to Calum! How could I be so stupid!?” Luke nearly shouted, his fist banging onto the table.

Everyone in the nearby vicinity quieted down and looked at the blonde with crying eyes. Michael included. He looked puzzled, Luke thought for a moment he might even seem worried. But that shaky moment passed and Michael looked away, leaving Luke to deal with his feelings alone.

“-get with Calum, I doubt they’re together.” The end of Ashton’s sentence reached Luke’s ears.

“What?” Luke asked, his gaze distant.

“I said, he’s had long enough to get with Calum, so I doubt they’re together.” Ashton repeated a bit slower. “Honestly, Luke, get a grip. I bet they were pretending - didn’t you see them laugh as soon as she walked away?”

“Can we just get our pizza to go?” Luke murmured, wiping his eyes dry. 

Ashton gave him a sympathetic look. “Sure.”

*~*~*

“Calum, Luke’s crying.” Michael stated. 

“Seriously?” Calum moved to look over his shoulder.

“Hey, no don’t look!” Michael protested, moving over slightly to get out of Luke’s view.

“Why’s he crying?”

“How the hell should I know?”

“Go talk to him.”

“No fucking way Calum, not this again.”

“He’s visibly upset, go comfort him!”

Michael groaned. The last thing he wanted was to talk to Luke when he’s upset. Not to mention they’ve yet to make amends. 

Then, it hit Michael. Maybe he should talk to Luke now. Comfort Luke, show him he still cares. Because he does; Michael cares a hell of a lot more than he’d like to admit. But he doesn’t want to upset Luke more, and one wrong word said can bring hell to both their cases.

“Let me think about what to say.” Michael muttered.

A few moments later, their pizza arrived; Michael was so distracted he hadn’t even noticed his favorite dish placed right in front of him. However, he did notice Luke and Ashton stand up, a box of to-go pizza resting in Ashton’s open palm. They made their way out, directly passing Michael’s table. Though Luke’s eyes avoided Michael’s, he could feel the Luke’s pain resonate with himself. He had to do this now, or else all hope may be lost.

“Luke.” Michael said, standing up. Luke’s footsteps slowed slightly, but increased in speed moments later. “Luke!”

_Fucking twat_. Michael thought while weaving between tables to get to him. It didn’t take him long to get outside, and caught them just as Luke was about to enter Ashton’s car.

“ _Luke_.” Michael forcefully said. “We need to talk.”

Luke gave Ashton a hesitant glance, but Michael didn’t miss the small nod Ashton gave him in return. He’s glad to see that Ashton is his Calum. Luke slowly made his way towards Michael, shoving his hands in his pockets and turning his head away to scope out every detail of the oh-so fascinating plant next to him.

“What is it Michael.” He muttered. Michael hesitated, momentarily thinking that he’d made the wrong choice.

“I don’t know how to start this so I’m just gonna come out and say it,” Michael took a deep breath to expel the nerves, “I’m gay.”

“I can tell.” Luke stated flatly. “Didn’t know you had a thing for Calum, though.”

“Wait, what?” Michael asked, sounding genuinely confused. “I don’t have a thing for Calum.”

“Oh please, you were all over him in the restaurant.”

“That was just a joke. We always do that whenever waitresses hit on Calum.”

“Why? Surely he wouldn’t mind that attention considering plenty of girls at school oogle over him.”

“Oogle?”

“Yes, oogle.” Luke snapped back. Though Michael knew Luke was terribly upset he couldn’t stop himself from letting out a small laugh. “Shut up you twat I’m being serious.”

“First of all, oogle is a funny word. Second, Calum’s gay.” Michael explained, still smiling. “And before you get all riled up, he’s so not into me. He’s literally the brother I’ve never had.”

“So then…” Luke trailed off, a bit embarrassed after causing that scene. He knew he should’ve known better. “What about me?”

“What about you.” Michael stated, a bit more coldly than he meant to. He noticed Luke’s demeanor change into one of guilt. _Shit, I didn’t mean to make him feel bad._

“I just… I’m not like your brother, right?” 

_Fuck._ Michael thought. _Fuck, fuck fuck. I can’t do it in public like this._

By then a small crowd had stopped to stare at them, including a couple curious people from school he recognized. The last thing he wanted was to be out. But Luke was here, in front of him, practically refuting Michael’s worries that he’d never like him back; and Michael just couldn’t do it.

“Not.. Luke…” He started. “Just, meet me at the park at six, okay? We can talk then.”

“Michael…” Luke trailed off, looking like a wounded puppy. His eyes scanned past Michael and looked at the bystanders. “Bye.”

Michael had no clue what that was supposed to mean. Did it mean Luke was done with him? Or that he’ll meet him later? But Luke was already climbing into the passengers seat of Ashton’s car; it was too late to get clarification. He could only hope for the latter.

*~*~*~*

Six rolled around and Luke still hadn’t arrived. Michael continuously check his phone for any notification, any indication that Luke was either on his way or not coming at all. He decided he could wait around for another hour or so since his mum wasn’t going to be home until ten.

That hour passed by slowly, and Luke was still a no-show. Michael ran a hand through his hair and gripped it tightly, trying to fight back the tears that brimmed his eyes. He was so certain that Luke would meet him here. _After what he said_ …

“Another half hour.” He stubbornly declared. “He’s gotta be here.”

Sure enough, the time read seven thirty and Luke was still not at the park. Michael let a few tears fall from his eyes as he picked himself up off the bench. Walking off in the direction of his house, he couldn’t help but feel like he was taking a walk of shame. He felt so foolish for believing that Luke still liked him. He may have once, but Michael should have known better than to keep his hopes up. Nobody’s ever stayed with him longer than a week, anyways.

He dialed Calum’s number, desperately needing someone to talk to. It went straight to voicemail and Michael wanted to scream into the phone. He opted to rant to him on the voicemail.

“Hey, Cal, it’s me.” Michael sniffled. “I’m such a fucking idiot. I waited for an hour and a fucking half and he didn’t show up. I’m walking home now and I… I just needed to rant. I can’t walk home in silence.”

He paused for a few moments, trying to recollect his thoughts.

“I was too big of a chicken to tell him how I felt - feel - in front of all those people at the restaurant. And now this happens. Now he probably hates me, thinks that he is to me what you are to me - which is just about the exact opposite since I wanna suck his dick.”

Michael let out a breathy laugh at his brashness. 

“I’m just… I feel so… just… when you get this call me back.” Michael hung up the call. As much as he wanted to stay on the empty line, he knew he couldn’t continue to talk to him for the rest of the way home. He didn’t have that much to say to Calum; after all, it’s Luke he needs to talk to the most.

He walked alone, the empty streets reflecting his inner self. Dark and barren, demons leaking out of the cracks and entwining themselves around his legs. Every step was weighted, as if gravity had magnified; every breath heavy, seemingly unable to grasp oxygen. 

Unfortunately, this feeling isn’t foreign to Michael. Nearly every night, before sleep finally overcomes him, he endures this same panicked state. He can’t breathe, he can’t move; everything is a constant battle. Some much harder than others.

Michael had trudged along in solitude for what felt like miles until headlights cast his shadow before him. This was strange, for it was not the hour most people who lived in proximity came home from their doings - Michael could sense when they were sinister, which was usually most of the time they came home past eleven. _Those poor wives really believe he worked overtime._

As strange as it was, Michael couldn’t help this feeling of unease. The car was going slow, awfully slow, and seemed to trail behind Michael. Of course it could just be a lost traveler, but then again nobody ever traveled here. Which only left one chilling option.

_Who the hell is stalking me with their car._

Suddenly, a blaring car horn sounded. Michael jumped and whipped around to see a second car speeding down the road towards them. The trailing car immediately picked up speed and raced off, but Michael’s gut was still uneasy. He stood transfixed on the other car speedily approaching him; it didn’t seem to slow down, but Michael had this feeling, as if he knew it would stop for him.

Sure enough, the car pulled to a screeching halt beside him. The passenger door flew open on it’s own, and inside was his captor. 

“Luke.” Michael breathed out, feeling relieved.

“Get in.” Luke said slightly too seriously. Michael noticed he was tense, eyes scanning the road and surrounding areas.

Michael climbed into the car and shut the door, which Luke locked immediately. Luke’s aura was very alarming; he can’t remember the last time he felt an aura this fierce. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Luke sighed. Almost immediately, the fierceness of his aura began to subside, and was replaced with one Michael’s too familiar with - wariness. “What’d you want, Michael.”

“Luke I’m sorry.” Michael began. He couldn’t stop his words now. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t tell you earlier today. There was just too many people and I don’t do audiences, especially when it’s so personal like that and I got so scared and I really _really_ didn’t mean to hurt you. And shit it’s so hard for me to say this because I’ve always handled rejection so terribly but I really fucking like you Luke. I _like_ you.”

Luke was silent for a few moments, contemplating the meaning behind Michael’s words. He could only hope Luke would take them they way he intended.

“You like me, or you like-like me?” Luke asked, causing Michael further agony.

“I fucking like-like you, you dipshit.” Michael muttered, turning his head away from Luke.

“Well that’s a relief.” Luke sighed. “You had me scared you didn’t like me back for a moment.”

“You fucking prick, you had me scared too!” Michael exclaimed giving Luke’s shoulder a playful shove.

“Remember the last time you were in my room?” Luke asked suddenly. And oh, Michael couldn’t ever forget that.

“We almost kissed, yeah.” Michael gave a small smile at the memory. 

“Well, wanna kiss me now?”

“You sound a bit desperate, Hemmings.”

“Just shut up.”

“How ‘bout you make me?”

Michael didn’t actually think Luke would take the initiative, but he did so unexpectedly. The kiss was tentative, lips lightly pressed together, as if testing the waters. Though it was only a light touch, Michael could already feel the world around him melting into unidentifiable nothingness. Almost immediately, Luke fired up the kiss, getting a bit more aggressive. 

Being inexperienced, Michael had always worried that he wouldn’t be able to keep up with an experienced kisser. Which, of course, it seemed like Luke has an extension of knowledge. But Michael’s lips seemed to have a mind of their own, and followed Luke’s movements without hesitation. He didn’t find it hard to match Luke’s frantic pace, in fact it seemed a bit easier than the slower paces kisses he’s had in the past.

He decided to be a bit more daring and somehow managed to climb across to sit on Luke’s lap. Luke’s hand drifted down to Michael’s hips and gently tugged them forward. The friction caused Michael to let out a slight moan, and he continued the movements at a slow, almost agonizing, pace. Luke’s hands went to tangle themselves through Michael’s hair and lightly tugged, eliciting another moan from the redhead.

If Michael kept this up any longer he knew he’d cum in his pants. Which, though some people may think is hot, is actually gross and uncomfortable. But he couldn’t bring himself to stop; it felt too good and Luke kept making the hottest noises - how is a horny teenage boy supposed to hold himself back when they both want it so desperately?

Luck was both on and against Michael, for her leaned back a little too far and hit the horn with his ass. It let out a sharp, startling beep and Michael jumped up a little. His head hit the ceiling and he hissed a little in pain. Meanwhile, Luke couldn’t help from chucking at Michael’s clumsiness.

“Shut up, that hurt.” Michael whined, bringing himself to snuggle into Luke.

“Aw you poor thing. Want me to kiss it better?” Luke laughed, wrapping his arms around Michael’s waist to bring him a bit closer.

“How ‘bout instead of kissing this head you kiss my other one?” Michael jokingly suggested.

“Alright, time to get your horny ass home.” Luke let out a belt of laughter and gently pushed Michael into the passenger’s seat. As much as he wished he could get rid of his boner he didn’t want to move too fast with Michael. It never ended well in past experiences.

“Fine, but I swear if you leave me hanging the next time I’m going to do the same to you every single day.” 

They drove the first few minutes in silence, each relishing the moment they’d just shared. But a nagging thought continuously pestered Michael. Eventually, he worked up the courage to spit it out.

“Hey Luke?” Michael timidly addressed him. “What… what are we exactly?”

“Well,” Luke started, keeping focused on the road. “I would love to call you my boyfriend.”

“Sounds good to me.” Michael replied, grinning from ear to ear. He’d never been this happy in his entire life.


End file.
